The Return of the Imperium
by Trojan Prince
Summary: After being exposed as a mage to Meredith during the Qunari attack in Krikwall. Hawke and Merril flee from the reach of the Templars to Tevinter. Hawke quickly gains the rank of Magister, will he lead the dying empire back to it's former glory?
1. Chapter 1

The Return of the Imperium

Martin Hawke was busy moving through his estate, packing his belongings together for the long trip out of Kirkwall. And if he had his way, it would be out of the Free Marches entirely. It was the day after the Arishok had died by his hand, a day since the few surviving Qunari had been driven out of the city with their precious book. And it was also a day since he had been forced to reveal himself as a apostate...right in front of the Knight Commander herself!

It was in that moment that he wondered if he should start worshipping his ancestors or the Natural Order, since it was obviousl the Maker held no love for him. After four years in hiding as an apostate. on top of an entire life of running and hiding. His secret was out, to the worst person imaginable, with the possible exception of the Divine herself.

Meredith may have given him a temorary repreave from the Gallows (or possibly execution) while the Qunari were attacking the city. Whatever else could be said of Meredith, sh didn't waste valuable resources in a hard situation. But she had made it very clear that once this crisis was dealt with, he would have to answer for the heinous and illegal crime of being born a mage.

He was confident that the only reason she hadn't slapped the shackles on him right there in the vicount's throne room. Was because he was in the middle of being proclaimed Champion of Kirkwall by the entire nobility. Meredith herself had even gone along with it at the time, seeing that there was no way she was arresting him at that time. Well not in front of the city he had just saved anway. But he had seen her eyes when she congratulated him in the forum in Hightown later that day. And those ice blue eyes told him that this was not finished. Even the most mage sympathetic Knight Commander in Thedas would be hard pressed to ignore a open apostate in their realm of influence. espeically one as powerful as Hawke. And Meredith was the polar opposite of that description.

The fact that said mage was a rich noble or even a champion wouldn't matter. Meredith would find away to despose of or imprison him, either openly or in secret. And Hawke had already decided that, that dispite all the trouble life constantly brought him. He was eager to carry on living it on his own terms.

That was why he was leaving Kirkwall and taking his fortune and possesstions with him.

He had already told his companions about his choice and most of them had expected it to happen. Aveline was supportive, she may be guard captian, but she knew she could not intervene if the Templars came for Hawke. Varric had agreed with her and while he was sorry to see Hawke leave, he understood the necessity. He had helped Hawke get his things together quickly, and had used his Carta connections to ensure that Hawke's departure from Kirkwall would not be hintered by anyone.

Isabela he would have liked to say goodbye to, but shortly after the duel with the Arishok he had taken her aside for a talk. He had thanked her for coming back for them with the Tome of Koslun. But Isabela didn't seem to want to talk about it, she had left the city that night on a ship bound for Antiva. He doubted her would see her anytime in the near future, if ever again.

Anders was not happy at all with Hawke leaving. He had argued that no with Hawke an open apostate and a hero to the people. He had a golden chance to serve as an inspiuration and figurehead for mages. He accused Hawke of being a coward and turning his back on their people. Hawke had tried to reason with him to start, but eventually anger at the accustations caused him to point out that all Anders had ever done was run away. He ran from the Circle, he ran from the Wardens, and now he ran from the damn spirit inside him!

Anders had paled and looked like he was about to attack him then and there. But he had just stood there until Hawke just shrugged his shoulders and left the clinic.

He had never been close to Fenris for obvious reasons. They had just stayed together for mutual aims and protections from their enemies. But even so he had gone to his house in Hightown and said a quick goodbye and a word of luck regarding his future.

Sebastian took the news well. He knew as well as Hawke that Meredith wouldn 't let him rest in peace. And while he wasn't in favor of an apostate fleeing the gallows, he felt Hawke had more then earned the right to his freedom. He was also confient that Hawke would never be swayed by a demon. He gave the Maker's blessing and wished him well on his travels.

Merril was coming with him of course. They had been together for a while now and Hawke was not leaving Merril alone in Kirkwall. Merril had no great love for Kirkwall, after the alienage, and no wish to remain near to her former clan. She claimed it just made the separation from them harder.

Bohdann, Sandal and Orana were coming too. Orana couldn't function in normal society after an entire life as a slave. Plus Hawke was very fond of her and her cooking aswell.

Speak of the archdemon Bohdann came up to him with the last bags from the estate. "Messare the work is all done and we are rady to depart on your say so."

"Good, have the servants ready the horses and the wagons outside the city. I want us on the road north before the moon reaches the zenith." Hawke grabbed his father's staff off the wall where it was leaning. He then collected Merril from the bedroom that she was taking the last moments to admire. With that they all walked out of the estate, but not through the front entrance. Hawke had no doubt that the estate was under watch by the Templars, so they exited throught the basement passage into Darktown.

"Ma Vhenarn, where are we going to go?" Merril enquired innocently

Hawke had been thinking about that for the last two days and he had been forced to a hard conclusion. "I have no doubt that Meredith would have already sent word and describtions to all the chantry authorites in this half of Thedas. So i have to ask Merril, infact i need to ask you all."

The group stopped and waited for Hawke to continue.

"How do you feel about going to live in Tevinter?"

Hawke had been wresling with this descion for a long time. His father had battled with it aswell. It was the only land in Tedas mages could live free. Admittley mages were not equal in Tevinter, they ruled in Tevinter. But Hawke had had enough of running and pretending that he was fine with it. He had heard the stories of Tevinter, everyone had. But he heard them from those who had never been to it. And from the teachings of a Chantry that demanded his death or enslavement for his powers. What loyality did he hold to them?

The group took a moment to process that. But it didn't take long to decide. Orana was more familiar with Minrathous then she ever had been in Kirkwall. And dispite everything she was eager to return to her homeland.

Bohdann and Snadal had no opinion on the Imperium and were not bothered much

Merril of course was edgey with the Imperium given their history with the elven people. But she did realise that she was in just as much danger of the templars as Hawke. Actually more so for being a blood mage. It was a battle between her fear of the Imperium and her fear of the templars.

The fear of Templars won.

Hawke, satified that the group was unified with their course of action. Turned to begin the long trip to Minrathous, and hopefully a new life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It has been 1 year since Hawke, Merril and company first arrived in Minrathous, captial of the Tevinter Imperium. Hawke's request for Imperial citizenship was granted immediatly. After the tales reached Tevinter of how he slaughtered over a hundred Qunari himself. And how fought the Arishok in single combat and was victories, he was one of the most famous and respected people in the Imperium. As Fenriel had told him in his letter's. There was nothing the Tevinters loved more then successful Qunari killlers.

Becasue of these events, and the fact that he was a powerful mage, from the Amell family, an ancinet Tevinter bloodline. Hawke was welcomed into the elite social circle of the Magicter lords. He was invited to attend fancy balls and dances, and was invited to dine with some of the most rfespected members of the Senate. Even the Archon himself was on a first name bases with him.

It didn't take long for Hawke to be given his Imperial citizenship. And with it came the rank of Magister. As it happened a place in the Senate had opened up after the previous occupant had been caught using illegal blood magics. The Imperial Chantry Templars had seen to the offending Magister and ended his experiments. It was a confrontation the Mgister didn't survive.

In accordance with Tevinter tradition. If a Magister was killed by Templars instead of another Magister. Then his wealth and assets were taken by the state and given to the Magister who takes his place in the Senate.

Hawke had walked into Minrathous with his entire fortune from Kirkwall. Except for the stipend he had given to Gamlen, as well as the deed to the Hightown estate. He hoped that with his large but controlled stipend, Gamlen could continue the Amell Line in Kirkwall. It was probably fortuneate that Charade had revealed herself just before Hawke had left. They kept in touch with letters and the occasional vist, and he was glad to see she kept her father under control.

Anyway, with his Kirkwall weath added to the wealth, estate and lands he now gained as a Magister, he was a very rich man! He was only a junior member of the Senate as of yet. And despite the respect he recived for his famed actions in Kirkwall, and his magical power, he could tell that some of his collegues still viewed him as a Ferelden barbarian. He was also now adept at the intriqute nature of poltics. With all his time as a noble, and his jobs for the Vicount. awke had always known how politics worked. But before he had always been able to face his enemies directly with a sword. Now he had to manuver though the alliances and underhanded nature of goverment.

Hawke had experienced culture shock when he first arrived of course. His most difficult thing to learn to accept was slavery. He had known that slavery still existed in Tevinter, but to see it so opnely was hard. He knew other nations still practice it. They just called it a different name and dared the servants to question it. But he had found it hard to stand back and accept that he couldn't change it...not yet anyway. In the meantime he freed all the slaves in his estates and lands, making them paid servants.

Another thing he had to get used to was the heat. Tevinter was a land of humidity, jungle rainforests and vast roaming plains. It was the opposite of the defined seasonal changes of Ferelden and Krikwall. But he had learned to ajust and now he barley noticed it.

Merril had naturally been nervous about the Imperium but she soon realised that in a strange way. Elves are more equal in Tevinter then other nations. While many elves were slaves, there were also human, dwarf and even a few Qunari slaves. And elves which did well for themselves as citizens could live comfortable lives, as well as any human. There were even elves in the senate, if they possessed magic. Elves in goverment was something no southern nation would tolerate. Tevinter seemed to follow a philosophy of 'the strong rule, and the weak serve'. If you could make something of yourself and prove yourself useful, you were a full equal citizen, regardless of race. But if you couldn't then just be silent and serve your masters well.

Both Hawke and Merril agreed that, while it wasn't perfect, it was one of the Imperium's better qualities.

Merril had been named Hawke's apprentice and was currently studying under him. Ready for the day when she too would join him in the Senate.

Orana was glad to be back in Minrathous, more for familiarity then anything else. She was Merril's personal attendant, as well as music teacher and friend. Meanwhile Bohdann and Sandal remained as Hawke's manservant and personal enchanter. Many other Magisters had offered to buy Sandals services, but Bohdann refused to leave Hawke's employ.

He still kept in touch with his friends in Kirkwall with regular letters and visits. Aveline and Donnic had stayed with him for a few weeks while on their honeymoon. Isebela had dropped by for a surprise visit from Rivain two months ago and had proceeded to get the entire household involved in a drinking contest...damages were still being repaired.

He had visisted Varric and the others in Kirkwall as well. Carver was still distant with him, but the fact that he came to see him of his own accord was a miracle in it's self.

Hawke mulled all these thoughts and memories around his mind as he made his way to the tower of the Circle of Magi. This towers was placed close to the Argent Spire of the Black Divine. Situated on one of the several hills the city was built on, it could be seen from almost everywere in the city. The Senate was meeting today to discuss the latest attaemt to drive the Qunari off Seheron. An army and fleet had been ammassing for months now. Both were camped north of Minrathous, at the end of the High Reaches. He was wearing his sentatorial robes, blue with gold adornments and fur shoulder pads, in traditional fashion.

Hawke rode Pacorus (his personal white horse) through the entrance into the courtyard. There were Templars guarding the gate and doors. As he passed by, they saluted and bowed to him. He still found it hard to process that while normal Templars would happily take his head off. These ones were under his authority as a Magister of the Imperium.

He brushed off those thoughts and made his way through the elaborately decorated chambers and corridors of the tower. All around him were murals of Tevinter history and triumph. Depictions of the conquest if Arlathan, the fall of Dumat, and the founding of Minrathous. Others showed the battles against, the White Divine, the Qunari, and the Darkspawn. The message behind them was that inspite of everythbing their enemies had ever thrown at them. Minrathous (and thereby, Tevinter) had never fallen.

At last Hawke reached the Senate chamber and made his way to his persoanl box. The senate chamber was designed rather like a theatre. The Magisters sat in personal viewing boxes that spanned half the room in a semi circle all the way up to the ceiling. While on the other side sat the Archon and his attendants and bodyguards on a raised private box. Archon Vorenus was a elderly man, with a small balck beard and neatly combed black hair. His robes were red with fine gold and silver adornments. His staff was a combination of gold and lyrium woven togther, it was a beautiful creation. At it's top was a finely crafted sun disc, the same as the one on the Tevinter state symbol.

All had a commanding view of the podium which was placed in the centre of the room and at ground level.

Hawke gave friendly greetings to his allies and friends as he made his way to his seat. Once he reached it, placed his staff in its stand next to his chair, and waited for the meeting to begin.

It didn't take long for everyone to get settled. The session began with a man entering through the ground level doors and makig his way to the podium. Hawke recognised him as Admiral Caladrius, commander of the fleet up north.

"Great Archon Vorenus, esteemed Magisters of the senate" he began "I can confirm that the fleet is complete and ready to sail as soon as the wind turns in our favor. All that is needed now is to appoint one of your number to act as general for the army that will retake Seheron from those horn-headed savages".

Hawke had learned early that Tevinter amies were always commanded by Magisters. It was a way for a Magister to gain glory and advance in position. It was also a way to ensure that the amry remainded loyal to the Archon and the senate. To him it seemed like idiocy to let politicians command armies as opposed to military generals. But he was in the minority with that thinking.

The Senate waited for a Magister to put forward a nomination. Hawke had no intreast in naming someone for the exact reason he just gave. He just felt sorry for the soldiers that would be killed through stupid command errors.

At that moment Magister Danarius banged his staff on the floor and rose to speak. Hawke was not looking forward to this. Danarius was not a man he liked, either as a polician or as a man. He was notably cruel to his slaves a he had the look of a sadist, he was also very influential in the senate unfortuatly. Hawke was certain this was the same Danarius that Fenris run from/hunted. He definatly fit the describtion.

Danarius looked around the room, taking in the assembled faces, and began "Collegues, like all of you i eagerly await to see Seheron returned to us. But we must ask ourselves of all of us here. Which of use a suited to lead and army? I propose that we place the care of this army and fleet in the hands of the most experienced in battle.

At this he gave a sly smile and Hawke was certain he wasn't going to like this

"I propse that young Magister Hawke be given command of our northern military forces bound for Seheron. He has already killed an Arishok and it's men once before for the petty city of Kirkwall. Surely he can do it again for our great Imperium."

Hawke understood now. He and Danarius had never been allies in the senate or friendly as people. They both just rubbed eachother the wrong way. Danarius was suggesting Hawke command so he would either fail and return in disgrace before the entire Imperium. Or more likely he would be killed in battle.

The entire senate was watching Hawke for his reaction. He knew that he could refuse the commition. But that would be seen as an almost equal to being defeated by the qunari, it would cost him to much in terms of poltical influence.

The Archon rose to speak "Magister Danarius nominates Magister Hawke for the postion of command in Seheron. Magister Hawke, what is you answer?"

Hawke gripped his staff and rose to his feet.

"I accept the command of the army, and if it is within my power i will return Seheron to us, as a province of the Imperium once and for all!"

The senate appluded his answer and the matter was closed. In the next two months he would be going to war, yet again.

He had no idea what he was going to tell Merril.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hawke sat through the rest of the meeting with the Senate without really listening, he just was processing his new found responsibility as he rubbed his beard in thought.

He was concerned with his being in command of an entire army and fleet for the first and hopefully only time in his life. He had been under uncountable situations where is own life was at risk, or those of a few companions and friends. And he had never worried about what would happen. He had always just done what he had to and dealt with those that stood in his way.

But this time he had hundreds of thousands of men and women under his command. Millions of Tevinter citizens counting on him to bring their families and friends home from Seheron. And once again he was being thrown to the Qunari. It seemed that no matter how he tried to distance himself from them and their brighted Qun. They always got involved in his life some how.

He really hated Danarius in that moment. While he acknowledged that he was by far the most experienced man in the court of Magister's in dealing with Qunari. He knew Danarius was just doing this to get him killed, or make him fall from grace in the Imperium.

But as much as he wanted to throw a lighting bolt through at Danarius's balls right now. He had to face that he had been cornered politically this time.

Hawke picked up his staff (the key from Legacy) as the Senate disbanded at the end of the meeting. He approched Admiral Caladrius himself, hoping to gain some insight in the situation.

The adrmiral saw him coming and immediatly stood to attention and bowed. "Magister Hawke, how can i serve you?" An elf with a bag (likely his personal aid) stood next to him and also bowed.

Hawke rasied his hand in a placating greeeting "Relax Admiral i mearly wish to discuss our plans for the reclaiming of Seheron. Would you accompany me to my chambers, please?"

Caladrius relaxed visibley. While he may be an important man in the Tevinter military, he never liked one on one's with Magisters. But Hawke's repuation as one of the most understanding Magisters was known across the Imperium. Because of this many buisness and poltical clients who would otherwise not risk it, came to him. It was making him alot of profits. And it was pleasent to see that other Magisters had made a notable effort to change their demenor to citizens in order to get the same.

"Of course my lord" Caladrius and Hawke made their way through the tower until they reached Hawke's senatorial apartment, with the aid following silently behind. All Magister's had these for use in important all day meetings, and for private talks. Two of Hawke's personal guards stood guard outside the door. Both of them saluted in Tevinter fashion as the Magister approached, by opening their right palm and placeing it over their left breast. Hawke gave a nod of acknowledgement and went inside followed by Caladrius.

The chamber was modest in its decor. Most magisters had their chambers as fine and imposing as possible, it helped when holding negotiations. But in typical ferelden fashion, Hawke had a distain for the unnessecary vanities of other cultures. Most foreigners assumed Fereldan nobles were just dirt poor when they visisted their estates. But actually it was simply beacuse Fereldans simply didn't see the point in the uncessary adorments of other cultures.

It had a few decorations from Kirkwall. Includeing the family crest sheilds on the walls, the chanderlier Leandra had brought for the estate, and the red carpets and curtains as well. At the end of the room was a desk, some comfy chairs sat next to the unlit fireplace, and a bed was in the connecting room.

Hawke made his way across the room and sat down at his desk. He motioned Caladrius to sit down opposite him with one hand. While he raised his other and snapped his fingers with a loud snap, and a roaring fire appeared in the fireplace.

Caladrius sat down and placed his sword down against the desk.

Hawke cleared his throat and began "Admiral what is the exact number of troop we are sending to Seheron, and what kinds of soldiers do we have to work with?"

Caladrius turned to the elf and held out his hand expectantly. The elf reached into the bag, and after a second of searching, pulled out a roll of parchment, which he handed to the Admiral.

Caladrius placed the parchment on the desk and spread it out. Inside was a detailed map of the northern imperium, Seheron and the rest of the Archipelago. Also there were details of army size and other important details, including a estimate of Qunari forces on the island.

"The army and fleet are stationed here at the northern coast of the High Reaches. They are numbered at two hundred and ten thousand strong. Of that number are one hundred and seventy thousand foot soldiers, thirty five thousand cavalry, three thousand mages, and two thousand Tal Vashoth mercenaries."

Hawke's eyesbrows raised at that last one "Tal Vashoth, where did we aquire their services?"

"Four months ago my lord, they were captured during a patrol skirmish in the Arlathan forests. They were spared on negotiation of a mercenary contract. They contaced their other camps, and now they are two thousand in number. They have proved themselves willing to kill Qunari, and they are accomplished warriors. Most of them were warriors in the Qun before they left, and they retain their skill"

Hawke stroked his beard as he considered all this "I do not doubt their skill Admiral, but what about their dicispline? Can they follow orders and fight with the rest of the army in coordination? I would rather go into battle with disciplined housewives armed with brooms. Then a bunch of muscle bound thugs with the coordination of a drunk orge!"

Caladrius suppressed a snort of laughter at the thought. He managed to restore his decorum quickly and continue. "I have had them under observation for sometime, they are not the typical fanatical Tal Vashoth savages. They are just what they claim, mercenaries. Some, not many of course, but some have even converted to the Chantry. His holiness his very pleased about that. He hopes it is the start of them all embracing the Maker.

Hawke had met the Black Divine at his inaugation as a Magister. While at the time it was still hard to come to grips with a male and mage Divine. He had to admit he was fond of the Black Divine. Ironically he reminded him of Grand Cleric Elthina, one of the few priests he had fully respected.

"This is excellent, two thousand soldiers who know Qunari customs, language, structure and cities better then we ever could. If we could place a few hundred of them in enemy cities across Seheron. Then the entire island could be taken through open gate attacks. Is this possible Admiral, i will defer to your military experience."

"Yes my lord, i was just about to suggest that possiblity."

That was actually true. Oftern the Ardmiral had to act as a glorified yes man when Magisters assumed military command. But Hawke was not as naive about military matters as his collegues it seemed.

"Okay then" Hawke continued "What about the mages, are they mostly schooled in primal magic or healing magic?"

All are at least trained to a mediocre level in battle magic. It is required to gain admittence to the army. Many of them excel in force and elemental magic, and they have a good number of excellent healers."

"Good, very good. And where is the chosen landing site for the invasion?"

Caladrius pointed to the eastern coast of the island on the northern end. "If we land the army here we will be able to assemble the army on the grassland insead of the jungle. This would save us many troubles."

"And what Qunari forces are on the island, and the surronding ones?"

"Our spies estimate that their are roughly one hundred and eighty thousand Qunari soldiers on Seheron, including the commanding Arishok."

(Oh goody as one wasn't enough of a pain) Hawke said mentally

"Also they are well stocked in cannons, and dreadnaughts in Seheron. Our many attacks have forced the Qunari to take great lengths to fortify it. That is were the Tal Vashoth inflitrators you mentioned could be critical."

Hawke saw the logic in that as he studied the map carfully.

Caladrius continued "As for the surronding islands, they all have an established garrison, but most only number a few hundred. While we should be aware of them, i doubt they could make much of a difference should they land of Seheron. It is reinforcments from Par Vollen we must look out for."

"True Admiral, but instead of establishing one front on the island what if we landed a second army on the island? Right here.

(Hawke pointed to the south western corner of the island, just south of the city of Seheron itself)

Caladius looked and considered it, while Hawke elaborated. "We land the main army on the place you suggested, and we let the Qunari meet us on the eastern side of the island. Then once the lines are established, we send a second army from say...Qarinus. And we land just south of Seheron city, and if we place some Tal Vashoth in their prior to landing. We could capture the city and force the Qunari to fight us on two fronts. Then we crush them between us and claim the entie island.

Caladrius liked the idea immensly, it was a sound tactic. But he immediatly saw the fatal flaw.

"My lord, that would be a very preferable scenario. But we are already at our finacial limit with the current army in the field. To fund a second army of the size you arfe suggesting is not possible without additional funds. And i think you know better then i that the Senate will never authorise it.]

Hawke let that sink in

"How much would be needed to raise an army large enough for our aims?"

Caladrius considered for a second.

"We would need at least forty thousand troops. At best i can say tywenty thousand pounds of gold"

"Done."

Caladrius's jaw fell "Excuse me my lord?"

Hawk continued as if nothing unusual had just been said "I will fund the second army and assemble it at Qarinus. I am certain it can be assembled within our two month deadline".

The Admiral struggled to regain control of his tongue as the shock abaited.

"My lord such a personal finaincal contribution would be unrivalled in all Tevinter history."

Hawke smiled as he scribbled down the necessary arrangments he would need to make "I have accumulated a great deal of money in my travels to Tevinter. And much more from my time as a Magister. I am not a man who hoards money and then lets it collect dust a vault. I intend to spend it. And if the invasion succedes then the rewards the Senate will heap on us will defeinatly pay us back."

Caladrius could only nod as Hawke handed back the maps and parchments to the elven aid. As he did a thought crossed his mind.

"Admiral, i hope you can speak for your aid's integrity in these matters?"

Caladrius looked aroundat his aid and waved the thought aside "You can trust Lucas to be descrete my lord. He has served me well in many ventures for the Imperium."

Hawke gave a satisfied smile to the Admiral and an apologetic one to the servant, who currently looked very nervous. "Forgive me, i had to ask, nothing personal."

The elf bowed and visiable relaxed.

Caladrius rose to his feet as he and Hawke made their way out of the room. Hawke snapped his fingers again, and the fire died in a blast of cold magic.

Caladrius saluted Hawke one last time before leaving. Hawke made his way out of the tower, fetched Pacorus from the stables. And set off into the city on his way to make a quick stop at Argent Spire and then home.

The stop at Argent sipre was just to recieve the Maker's blessing, and drop off his annual donation to the Chantry. He was surprised at how much he enjoyed such a simple thing as going to the Chantry.

He was never a very devote man in his life before. Manly because he felt no urge to give mony to a Chantry that constantly tried to kill him or lock him up. But now he had the freedom to go to the Im perial Chantry when he wanted, he was gaining a small religious awakening.

As he rode through the city to his estate in the rich district, people who saw him waved or bowed. Hawke noticed that not many other Magisters got the same treatment from normal citizens. Something he tried not to notice but secretly enjoyed.

Ariving at his estate he handed Pacorus over to his stable masters and entered the estaste. His Minrathous estate was quicte similar to his Kirkwall estate, both in interior and exterior. That was not really surprising, considering Kirkwall was built as a Tevinter city.

Servants moved throughout the place, doing their daily jobs. When they saw him enter they immediatly stopped and knelt before him, keeping their eyes to the floor.

This was a habit he was having trouble breaking out of them. Even though they were no longer slaves. Most had been all their lives and still acted with utter submission to his whims. It was annoying and rather depressing at times, but he had to be patient. He remembered how long it took Orana to look him in the eye.

Solonius his estate overseer walked over to him. Solonius was a elf about sixty years old, and was good at his job of managing the staff when Hawke was away.

"Welcome home master, i trust the meeting with the Senate was productive" He asked, as he presented Hawke with a much appriciated glass of tropical fruit juices. It was a drink that Hawke had loved ever since he arrived in Tevinter and was a local favourte for those who could make or afford it. He had no idea what fruits were in it, but he found it always relaxed him.

"Trust me Solonius when i say your soul is cleaner for not being involved in politics." Hawke joked as he made his way to the sound of lute playing. He smiled as he heard the many wrong notes. Orana was far to good for that so he was certain to find Merril there.

Hawke entered the living room to find Merril siting on a stool with a look of intense concentration and frustration. As she tired valently to play the instrument and failed miserabley at it.

Hawke sneaking up behind her after facing the servants in the room and putting a finger to his grinning lips. The servants smiled knowlingly and made no reaction to his presence in the room.

Hawke then wrapped his arms around Merril in a surprise hug. Causing her to sqeal in shock and break a lute string. Merril quickly realsied who it was and relaxed in his embrace.

"Ma Vhenarn, by the creators i swear one day i will pay you back for all the times you've done that to me!" She stated with a look of mock anger on her face.

Hawke just laughed and set her back on the ground. She turned around and kissed him fully as a welcome home gesture.

"So how was the Senate, did you fall asleep this time?" she smiled. Hawke rolled his eyes, "I only did that once and no one even noticed!"

He suddenly remembered the events of the day and he sobered. "Actually i've got something to tell you." He started but Merril put her finger on his lips

"You know the servants have finished in our bedroom for the day. Do you want to see if they made the bed right?" Merril was trying to use what Isabela had taught her last visit. The look on her face was ment to be seductive, when in fact she looked like she was about to be sick.

Hawke however just found that sexy in itself.

"Well i think it's only fair we make sure." He said as they made their way up the stairs, as he mentally justified holding back his news.

(If i tell her now she won't be in the mood afterwards. Besides we have both been working hard all day, we deserve a break and chance to relax, i'll tell her afterwards...My consious is clear!)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hawke lay on his great four poster bed with Merril curled up next to him. He had just been welcomed home after a lengthy Senate session, in a most enjoyable way. He could honestly say if anything made those meetings worthwhile it was the aftermath. No doubt the priests might condemn that view point. But he would just replay that at least he was not repressed.

But no came the moment he had been trying (and failing) to forget about. Merril was absentmindedly tracing her fingernails across his bare chest. Gently, he shifted his arm to embrace her closer to him. Merril knew this gesture meaning that he needed to talk about something important. She shifted to her side so that she could face him properly.

"Merril, I have been given a mission from the Senate, I need to talk about it with you."

Merril felt the familiar feeling of apprehension seep into her stomach. True she was apprehensive by nature. For the first year in Kirkwall she had not ventured into the alienage completely. And she only left house when she needed to buy food or to go with Hawke on jobs. And since arriving in Minrathous she only left the estate with Hawke, Orana and/or guards.

But when Hawke was given tasks like this she always felt an apprehension that she never faced anywhere else.

"What task have you been you been given Ma Vhenan?" she asked as she mentally and physically steeled herself.

Hawke sighed and just got it out. "The Senate has voted to give me command of the armies invading Seheron. And I have begun the building of a second army in Qarinus to launch a second invasion from the east. The invasion will be off in two months, and I will be forced to company them to war. And I do not know how long I will be gone from Minrathous…..from you." There…he had said it. And whoever said it was better to let the truth out was a damn liar!

Merril was silent for a second…and then she was not.

"They are sending you to war! I will not allow it, you have already risked your life against the Qunari once before. I still have dreams about your fight with the Arishok; I thought I would have to see you die in front of me. I thank the Creators every day that you live despite everything that happens, but I draw the line at a war".

Merril was often quiet and mousey most of the time, but for things that she was passionate about and she turned into a dragon in elf form. Hawke had to admit that he found her incredibly sexy in those moments. And if he was a braver man he would ask if she was in the mood too. But he had learned to just let her burn herself out, and then speak when she was finished.

It took longer than he had even expected, he supposed he should be flattered by that.

When she finally calmed down he began talking quickly "I am being sent to oversee that capture of Seheron. I will be the general, not a soldier, I probably won't be anywhere near that battle.

Merril gave him a look that very clearly said "Don't lie to me". And he responded with a look that said equally clearly "Ok, I'm sorry."

Hawke decided to play the duty card. "My love you know that for all the Senate's stupid decisions I am the only one for them who has any experience fighting, and fighting Qunari. I really do not want to go, you know that. But I can maybe save thousands, maybe millions of lives."

"What do you think will happen to those soldiers if another Magister takes command? As a Bas army led by a Bas the Qunari would not show, what little mercy they have to their prisoners. As a Basalit-an they might be willing to exchange prisoners or at least not kill them. And how merciful would our army be to captured citizens and soldiers if Denarius or Julian was in command. They would butcher their defenceless soldiers, and enslave every civilian they come across, and do Maker knows what to them."

Merril had gone quiet as she processed this information. She seemed to be waiting for something she could argue against. But she was finding nothing.

"And what happens if they manage to make it to Seheron city, they would burn it to the ground as an example to Par Vollen. And they would do it with the people still inside it, as a warning to others who follow the Qun".

Hawke got out of bed and was pacing the room as he said this. It was a habit of his when under stressful situations. He found it helped him put things into perspective.

"If I am in command of the army I can, keep war prisoners alive. I can make sure that the innocent civilians are treated well and with dignity. I can spare the cities of Seheron destruction. And I will hopefully be able to save the lives of thousands of Tevinter soldiers. Now tell me how I can refuse this and do it with a clean conscious?"

Merril had no answer to all that. Even though she looked like she really wished she did. Eventually she swallowed and got up, made her way to him and rested her head against his shoulder. "When must you leave Ma Vhenan?"

"Hawke sighed heavily "I need to stay in the city for a while to go over the strategy with the officer's. And I need to travel to Qarinus to oversee and pay for the army to be assembled there. I will be leaving in two months at the very most, maybe earlier if the wind demands it."

Merril nodded, "I am coming too."

Hawke choked, despite the interesting fact that he had nothing in his mouth to choke on. "What, I'm not letting you go to w..."

Merril clapped a hand over his mouth, stopping him in his words. "Ma Vhenan I think you should think about what you are about to say. And who you are about to say it to."

Hawke's eyes became very pensive as he seems to be trying to find a way out of that riddle. But while Hawke was resourceful more than anything else, he couldn't get around that. With a monumental sag of surrender he gently moved her hand away from his face.

"Is there nothing I can do to convince you not to come?" Merril gave him a look he knew very well "I didn't think so, I just had to ask. But who will run the house? And if you are in Seheron too, then who will represent us in the Senate?"

Merril simply shrugged "You know as well as I Bohdann and Solonius can run the estate and the lands in the Imperium. And you can communicate with the Senate very easily with Fenriel's help." That was true; Fenriel was one of Hawke's most trusted confidants. He had not become a Magister due to his less than satisfactory magical power. As a Dreamer, he had unmatched power in the Fade. But he had very little talent for magic in this world, as evidenced by his capture by slavers in Kirkwall. Because of this he was unable to become a Magister. But he was very well paid and provided for in the service of a Magister, and he would work for no one but Hawke. This gave Hawke an unrivalled weapon in the Senate, and it gave him a way to counter Denarius's influence.

"Ok I am cornered in this. We shall be going into battle together again. Why is it other couples get to go on holidays to Orlais, while we go to war in Seheron?"

It was one and a half months later. Hawke was standing on the plains near the Eyes of Nocen, just to the west of the city of Qarinus. He was inside his command tent in the dead centre of the camp playing home to the Imperial Army of the East.

The army numbered at 45,000 soldiers, including mages and dwarven explosive experts. The Tal-Vashoth mercenaries had been sent on ahead. Hawke had sent them into Rivain and then on to the Qun dominated city of Kont-arr. They were under orders to appear as numerous contingents of the Beresaad, the vanguard of the Qunari people. Their story was that they were returning from foreign lands after a task from the Arishok. Hawke felt that if these groups came to Seheron from a Qunari city, they would be under less suspicion. They would then travel to Seheron and each in groups of several dozen. They would infiltrate the island's cities and prepare for the invasion, and the plan to open the gates to their armies.

Hawke had paid the armies their salary for the next two years, and had managed to supply them with all needed equipment and resources. He was not going to lie and say it hadn't hit his treasury very hard. But he had more income coming in from his agricultural, trading and mining businesses every day. At times being a Magister was fun, but more often than not, it was balancing your assets that overwhelmed you.

At that moment five captains came into the tent, saluted and bowed low. In Tevinter armies, under the rank of Magister was the rank of Captain General. They commanded the army if a magister was not present. They also carried out the order of the Magister down the chain of command.

Hawke sat down in his desk chair and waved his hand in the signal for them to stand at ease. "Yes, captain's what is it?"

One of them moved forward and began "My lord, the army is ready to move when we give the word. We have also received a raven from Admiral Caladrius's second in command, Captain Septimus. The message says that the main fleet is amassed and already the Army of the North are boarding the ships. He says that the second fleet is a day away from Qarinus and will be dispersed across the eastern ports to avoid suspicion."

Hawke nodded. "Good, I have no doubts that we have Qunari spies listening in on our plans. According to our spies they are already preparing for our invasion in Seheron. I am hoping that our previous failures will fill them with a bit of over confidence.

The risk of Qunari spies was also why only he and Admiral Caladrius were aware of the plan with the Tal-Vashoth mercenaries. As far as anyone else in the army and in government knew, they had been dismissed as untrustworthy. Hawke deemed their mission to important to risk to infiltration. They were under orders to communicate only to him or the Admiral by raven. He also made it clear that if they violated this order, they would not see a single gold sovereign in payment.

Hawke then turned back to the captains "How is the morale of the soldiers?"

"They are high my lord. The men say that they are glad that this time a warrior leads them, not a politician. They also say that you killed an Arishok and his men with just a few companions, and others say you did it single handed. Others claim that you're powerful enough to sink Seheron into the sea, like ancient Arlathan."

Hawke had to laugh at that, but this was good. If the men were in high spirit and believed that they would win, then they just might. Unfortunately that meant that he would have to fight out in the open on the front lines. If this legend was to continue to inspire the troops, he would have to live up to it. This would not sit well with Merril but maybe he could leave that out of the next message to her. (Yes he knew he had learned nothing).

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes, one more message, my lord. His holiness the Divine wishes to know when you will come to Argent Spire to have him bless the expedition."

"I am not."

That was clearly not the answer that the officer's had expected, obviously, "My lord?"

"I have spent all my efforts and time making sure that the Qunari know as little about this attack as possible. I do not intend to waste all of that by announcing to the world that the Divine has blessed my impeding invasion." He sighed "Tell his holiness that I must decline a public endorsement. But that I would appreciate all the blessings he can give us."

"Yes, my lord, I'll send the message right away."

"Good, well then gentlemen. I have a lot of work to attend to as I am sure that you do as well. You are dismissed" The Captains saluted and exited the tent.

Hawke sat back in his chair and rested his head in his hands. This was not how he had pictured his life turning out. A decade ago in Ferelden he thought he would grow up pulling crops from the ground, and planting the harvest. Instead he was on the other side of the known world, commanding armies to war.

He wondered what his parents would say if they were alive today. His father may have been a mage but he had never mentioned a desire to live in the Imperium. And his mother had always been a devout Andrastian. He was not sure how she would feel about him living under the Black Divine and ruling as a Magister. But while he was sure this was not the exact life his parents would have chosen for him. But at least the family lived on, that was something right?

Speaking of family a letter from Carver had arrived recently. He had been promoted to Knight Lieutenant under Knight Captain Cullen in the Gallows. He still didn't give any hint that he missed his brother or that he wished to know how he was. But at least there were no more thinly veiled insults in his letters.

Maybe they really did just need to live different lives away from each other to be able to get along at all, a sad fact but likely true.

Hawke stood up and walked out of the tent and saddled his horse. He was currently staying in his estate in Qarinus while he over saw these arrangements. Before the northern fleet set sail, he would return to Minrathous and then on to the High Reaches. And he would cross over with the army to Seheron. And Maker help them when they got there.

Hawke watched from the deck of the flag ship 'Hessarian' in the front of the Tevinter armada making its way from the shore of Thedas. The armada consisted of 600 ships of the line, each one filled to bursting with weapons, supplies and most importantly soldiers.

Merril stood next to him as they watched their forces begin the journey to Seheron and to a new phase in the war between Tevinter and the Qunari. Only time would tell if Hawke would be the one to finally retake Seheron and return home a hero. Or if he would join the very long list of commanders to be defeated in disgrace. Or if he would join the even longer list of commanders killed in action.

Only time would tell which one.

It would take them about four days to reach their landing zone in Seheron. Hopefully the Qunari agents wouldn't have found out where that is. Otherwise they would likely be meeting a armed resistance on the coast line. But if they did then he, Merril and the other mages would bombard them with fire, blizzards, earthquakes and lightning before their ships even landed. If they had no cannons (however unlikely that was) it would be an easy victory. Somehow he doubted it would be that easy.

His main plan with civilians and non-combatants was to leave them to their daily lives, as long as they didn't interfere. Those that did interfere….well…..it was a war. But he knew that if the Imperium was ever going to hold Seheron against Qunari attacks. They would need the population of the island to be on their side.

Currently the people of Seheron were followers of the Qun, but not to the full extent. The people of Seheron still believed in deism and the use of magic freely. The Qunari Arigena had decided that fragile control was better than rebellions to forcing them to abandon such ideas. They figured that they would abandon such notions eventually, but that had not happened yet.

It was those separate beliefs that Hawke hoped he would be able to work with to bring them into the Imperium. He knew that by the laws of the Imperium, he would not be able to save all prisoners of war from slavery. He just had to hope that he could limit that as much as possible. But to be honest he didn't feel that the Qunari had the moral high ground when it came to treatment of prisoners. When the Qunari conquered somewhere they sent all those who refused to convert to labour camps to die of either starvation or exhaustion. Hawke believed he was an open minded person, but this fact just sickened him to the core.

So if he was honest with himself. If Qunandar was burnt to the ground by his army, he doubted he would shed a tear. Nevertheless he didn't wish slavery on anyone, even an enemy.

His main fear for the next few days would be running into the Qunari armada on the way. The Qunari dreadnaughts and ship cannons were something to be feared. He knew they could fight back with the mage's fireballs, but the losses would be high. Once again he just had to hope that his plans had been kept as secret as possible.

Hawke shook these thoughts from his mind and just trusted in whatever the future had in store for him. And the fact that he would use all of his power to win.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Seheron was an imposing site as it slowly emerged from the mist that surrounded the island. As the Tevinter Armada moved closer to the coastline, more of the island was revealed to the invasion force. At any other time the site would have been a beautiful one. The way the mist rolled over the land in the morning sunrise. The way the birds sang as the horizon changed from blue to gold. The calmness of the ocean as the ships glided through the water towards the island.

Yeah, any other time Hawke would have watched this scene on the deck while holding Merril close to him. They would have watched the sunrise, and then he would have laid them down on the beach. He would have kissed her mouth, as he slowly undid her…hang on; he was getting off topic here!

But Hawke took no pleasure watching the scene. Just looking at the peaceful scene, knowing he was about to destroy that peace, made him feel like crap!

Hawke stood on the deck of the 'Hessarian' watching as the land drew closer. He looked back at his invasion force numbered at over 600 ships, the pride of the Tevinter fleet.

If he was happy for anything that morning, it was the fact that they had not run into the Qunari fleet. That was the one thing he had dreaded most on this journey. While the size of the Tevinter fleet made it fully able to defend itself against anything. He been worried about the loses they would take and the damage to the ships.

Above all he had feared the enemy fleet sending warning to the island, or may be even Par Vollen. He needed to get his army to Seheron and then send the fleet to hug the shallow coastline, where the Qunari ships' could not attack. If the entire fleet was engaged before landing it would leave the army to damaged to continue the campaign.

But it seemed that the precautions he had placed to keep the fleet's rout a secret had paid off. But he couldn't shake the feeling that the journey had been too easy. On the trip they had not even run into standard Qunari patrols. Come to think of it they hadn't even seen any civilian boats, or fishing ships.

Most commanders would have thanked the Maker for that, or they would not have noticed it in the first place. But for some reason it bothered Hawke, he couldn't figure out why though. It could just be a coincidence, and anyway how many boats would go near an enemy armada?

Anyway, back to the present. Captain Batiatus made his way over to Hawke on the front of the ship. Admiral Caladrius was on another ship, so that if one was attacked the fleet would still have a commander.

The Captain walked over to Hawke and saluted "My lord we will reach the coast within 20 minutes. We can then begin landing the army and securing a beach head. Do you have any opinions on how we carry that out?"

Hawke responded "We will get within range we will begin getting the men in to the landing boats. But before we do that we send our shapeshifters over first. The shapeshifters will change into birds or a bug swarm and fly over to the island. Make sure that the ones that do this are also trained arcane warriors. This way they can fight hand to hand against the defenders while others bombard them with primal magic. This will hopefully keep the beach clear while the main army lands."

Batiatus nodded in thought "Excellent plan my lord. I will see the orders sent to the other ships." He saluted and walked away. He then raised several coloured flags on the mast; the order of flags gave the order to carry on until the signal to stop. Meanwhile a shapeshifter on the Hessarian changed into a bird and flew over to the nearest ship to carry the news. A minute or two later a flock of birds took off from the ship and dispersed among the fleet. The new instructions were being carried out to the entire fleet.

Hawke was immensely grateful for the Imperium for the preservation of such forms of magic. It gave them an immeasurable advantage on armies that relied on carrier pigeons or men on horseback. In fact he had learned the art himself when he first became a Magister, his animal of choice was a Mabari, hardly surprising given his nationality. He also had a bear, a wolf, an eagle and a horse. All of them chosen for a different set of circumstances, the wolf- survival, the bear- strength, the eagle and horse- travel.

His Mabari form could also be used for such things, but truthfully he only mastered that form for sentimental reasons. And it allowed his Mabari and him to have a lot of fun together in the city. Speaking of which, he missed his dog, but he had left him at home to protect the estate and his workers.

The fleet was now at a reasonable location in the water to begin the landing. Hawke didn't want to move the armada to close to the coast. If they did they would lose their mauve ability in the water and be boxed in. It was a mistake that had led to the destruction of many fleets.

"Captain, furl the canvas and lay them in iron. And prepare to drop the anchor once we decrease in speed." Hawke ordered.

"Yes sir, I'll see it done." The captain walked over to the wheel and began issuing orders to the sailors on the deck. "Get the sails closed and prepare the anchor. And get the soldiers up and ready for landing!"

The deck was a mass of activity as the men on board started to carry out the orders. Slowly the ship slowed in the water and the fleet followed its lead, until the anchor was dropped and the fleet came to a stop.

As the soldiers amassed on the deck, the smaller landing boats were readied to be lowered into the water for the trip to the coast. Hawke watched with a feeling of sorrow for these men and women as he wondered how many would live through this. Hawke had proposed a vote last year in the Senate to allow Women to serve in the army. He had argued that since female mages were allowed into battle it was no different in the end. Also the fact that Ferelden used the same practice and had defeated Blight in just over a year supported the motion. These days the army had a large number of female soldiers. And so far they had served with distinction. It also gave the Imperium a new source of manpower to draw on. Hopefully it would…..hang, was that thunder? The sky was completely clear.

(CRASH)

Hawke spun round as he watched a chunk of a ship on the Hessarian's starboard side shatter into splinters. The ship now had a massive gaping hole on the side of its bow. Already the ship was listing to the side as the water flooded into the bowls of the ship. Thankfully as he watched a mage on the ship conjured a wall of thick ice across the hole to save the ship.

"Cannon fire!" Batiatus yelled out "Take cover and get those boats in the water!"

Hawke looked at the coast and in the distance saw a flash and a burst of smoke. The Qunari had stationed cannons along the coast. Each of them was no firing into the armada as more ships were struck by their missiles. Already he could see a ship beginning to sink with no way to stop it.

He didn't have time to admire the sight. He raised his hand into the air and fired a massive fire ball into the sky, which then exploded in a shower of sparks. This was the signal to the shapeshifters of the fleet to begin the attack.

"Merril, stay with the fleet and if anything else happens let me know with a remaining shifter!" Hawke yelled over the din of cannons and men yelling. Merril nodded as if in some kind of trance.

"Shapeshifters, begin the attack!" As he said that he transformed into an eagle in a flash of light and took off toward the island. And he was followed by a massive cloud and birds and swarms. They literally darkened the sky as they flew over the ocean to the coast line were they could now see the Qunari entrenchments on the hills behind the beach.

The Cannons were on the hills, about thirty of them in line, all of them spurting fire at the Tevinter ships. The Qunari soldiers numbered roughly a few thousand, all of them with weapons drawn and looking at the approaching horde of the skies. Hawke could make out their individual faces with the eyes of an eagle. While most of the soldiers were Kossith, there were human and elf soldiers in the army, no doubt native Seherons. He was just thankful that the Qunari had no magic nullifying skills like the Chantry Templars.

Qunari lived in such fear of their mages that they didn't allow them to use anything but the most basic skills of magic. Because of this Circle Mages were much more powerful than Qunari Saarbas. And since Tevinter mages had almost no restrictions at all, they were the most powerful mages in Thedas.

As the horde passed over the Qunari formations he heard a voice yell "Look to the skies!" Had to be a Qunari commander, maybe a Sten or some other rank in the Qunari army, either way it didn't matter. Hawke suddenly dropped into a nose dive as the main horde descended on the Qunari army. The bug swarms wrecked confusion in the Qunari ranks as the swarms stung and bite into their bodies. The Qunari tried to slap and stamp on the bugs, while others tried to slash at them with their swords. But the swarms were almost impossible to hit and with hundreds of them around they could barely see. Meanwhile the birds landed on the outskirts of the army and began raining fire balls and lightning balls into the Qunari ranks. They couldn't use any large scale spells on them because it would likely affect the swarms.

However the Qunari were not a known military force for nothing, hundreds of Karestan charged at the mages with their swords flashing. Once they had left the swarm, the mages called down blizzards and lightning storms down on them. While it did claim many of their lives, it didn't stop the charge, and the arcane warriors drew their weapons. The lines clashed with a sound of grating steel.

Hawke didn't watch anymore, he was confident that their forces would stand their ground. He meanwhile flew on to the cannons with the intention to destroy them before the Qunari were able take down anymore of his ships out at sea. He was especially concerned about the Hessarian which still had Merril on board.

As he landed on the end of the cannon line he transformed back in to his human self and pulled out his staff of Parlathan. It was his preferred staff while fighting due to his spear like end. He quickly checked his supply of health and lyrium potions and then he fired a massive fire ball at the nearest cannon. The cannon crew that was servicing the cannon, screamed as they were burned alive. Meanwhile his flames must have ignited the gaatlock power because the cannon suddenly exploded with the force of a lyrium bomb.

One cannon down already, Hawke mentally congratulated himself. If they all had that weakness to open flames, this might be easier then he thought.

He then raised his hands to the sky and called down a hail of fireballs down on the next three cannon placements. Two of them exploded like the first one, but the third was still in action. Their crew had taken cover and remained undamaged from the assault, and as the crew reloaded, another drew his sword and marched on Hawke.

Hawke spun his staff and caught the Qunari blade as it came down on his head. The Qunari snarled and swung at his head, trying to cleave it off his shoulders. Hawke ducked and as the Qunari's arm followed the swing his stomach was left open. Hawke aimed the spear point at his enemy's torso and ran him through the gut. Immediately he withdrew the spear and moved to defend himself again as he had learned to long ago in his life. The removal of the spear would increase blood loss and make the Qunari die quicker.

The Qunari stumbled and pressed his hand against the wound to stop the flow of blood. But it was useless and he fell to his knees. Quick as a flash, Hawke used his arcane warrior skills to increase his speed. He raced forward and with his staff point, he beheaded the Qunari soldier in a clean slice. As the body toppled to the side, Hawke ran over to the cannon and stabbed one of the crew in the back. Before the other members could stop their loading and raise their weapons he conjured ice spikes and impaled them on the points.

One more fireball aimed at the barrels of power caused the cannon to go up in flames. Four of the cannons were down and another well aimed lightning bolt at the barrels of the next one made it five.

He quickly viewed the battle behind him.

The swarms were still wreaking havoc on the main Qunari defence force. However by the mage bodies here and there, it was clear the Qunari were taking some with them. The hand to hand battle to the side was pretty even. Qunari and Arcane warriors slashed and hacked at each other without mercy. Meanwhile the non-combat mages were firing precise spells at the enemy, either hurting or disorienting them. This gave the arcane warriors a chance to kills them quickly. Bodies littered the ground around them in equal measure. It seemed that the fight would go to the side with larger numbers. And as most of the Qunari forces were fighting the swarms, it looked to be the mages.

And looking down at the beach, the normal soldiers were landing and forming up, ready to engage the enemy. And all the while more boats landed and more soldiers leapt onto the sand and over to their regiments.

Hawke was satisfied that if this kept up they would win the day.

He turned his attention back to the cannons and quickly destroyed two more. By this time a number of Qunari had seen the loss of the seven cannons and were running to intercept him. Hawke thinking quickly summoned a blizzard and watched as the frigid wind froze some solid and blew other back. He turned to the beach and fired a fire ball into the air to signal the soldiers to come to his aid.

The imperial soldiers saw it and immediately raced up the hill to the cannon line. Hawke looked around and did it just in time to block an attack from a Karestan. He lashed out with a kick to the knee which brought the Qunari stumbling down to the ground. This gave Hawke the time to aim his staff down and stab it right into the Qunari's shoulder. The blade pieced through the Qunari's collar bone and into his ribcage. It clearly hit something vital as the Qunari fell stone dead as soon as he pulled it out.

By this time the soldiers had reached him and were engaging the cannon crews. The Qunari were now vastly outnumbered, and one by one the cannons were either destroyed or fell silent. Unfortunately once they saw the cannons were lost, the Qunari set the barrels alight. This destroyed them, the cannons and any hopes of unlocking the formula for Gaatlock. It was one of the most annoying facts about the Qunari and their damned duty.

But the main fact was that the cannons had been destroyed and the fleet wouldn't receive any more damage.

An officer ran up to Hawke and saluted "My lord, what are your orders?"

Hawke quickly surveyed the battle and then answered "Get the army to form up and then move on the main Qunari army. Send word to the shifter commander over there and tell him I want them to take flight and land behind the Qunari army. I want them completely enveloped, understood?"

The officer nodded "Yes sir, I'll see to it." And he ran off to issue the orders and send the messages.

Hawke was about to make his way to the front of the army line, when suddenly a hand clapped on his shoulder. Hawke spun round and raised his staff ready to attack again if need be. But it was a just an imperial mage behind him with a look of panic on her face.

"My lord, we have sighted Qunari ships approaching the fleet from the east. A large number of dreadnaughts have been seen!"

Hawke turned pale as this news sunk in. Most of their army was still on the ships, if the fleet was attacked now, the losses would be immeasurable. Hawke couldn't let that happen or the expedition would be over.

He turned to the mage who was still waiting on his orders. "Head back to the fleet and tell all the captains of the ships to raise anchor and move on the enemy fleet. And tell the mages of the ships to get ready to fire on the enemy…..NOW!" The girl snapped out of her stupor and shifted into a bird and flew back to the fleet.

Hawke meanwhile also shifted and headed to the group of arcane warriors and shifters that was just finishing off the Karestan battling them. The swarms had seen the Tevinter army form up and begin marching toward the Qunari army and so they broke off their attack. They then headed over to the main shifter group as they cut down the last Qunari soldier in their midst.

Hawke landed in front of them and shifted back into his form. The mages seeing it was him immediately saluted and bowed. Hawke then shot fire into the fire to get their full attention.

"Listen up, the fleet is under attack by Qunari ships, dreadnaughts have been sighted." The mages began to converse quietly in nervous voices. Hawke continued "I want the arcane warriors and five hundred mages from Tiberius's command to remain here and fight with the main army. Meanwhile I and the rest will fly to meet the Qunari fleet; I want those ships to be set alight. Land on their masts, shift back and rain fire down on the sail and decks, each of those ships will be a bonfire, understood?"

"Yes my lord!" The mages yelled and most of them shifted into birds or swarms and took off out to sea. Hawke became and eagle and took off to leaving the remaining arcane warriors and other mages to support the army engaging the main Qunari army.

Hawke and the flying horde could now see the approaching Qunari armada. It was large but not as large as the Tevinter fleet. But it didn't matter, the dreadnaughts were huge and imposing, and they had enough cannons to rip through the Tevinter fleet.

The flying horde descended on the Qunari fleet; unfortunately the Qunari defenders began firing arrows at the flying enemies. Many mages were shot down and plunged into the water or onto the enemy decks.

But they couldn't hit all of them, as the birds and swarms began evasive actions; others landed on the masts, shifted and set the sails and decks on fire. Hawke himself landed on a dread naught and called down a fire storm on it. The sails burned easily and the masts caught fire quickly after. He then threw a massive fire ball down onto the crowded deck; this killed many enemies and started fires all over the ship. As he took a needed dose of Lyrium and shifted into bird form again, he saw the Qunari crew throw buckets of water over the raging fires. He also saw them quickly moving the nearby barrels of gaatlock away from the flames. But even if they did manage to put out the flames on the deck, the ship would be dead in the water without its mast and sails.

Meanwhile the Tevinter fleet had begun engaging the enemy ships. The Qunari cannons immediately began firing into the Tevinter ships, ripping through them with no mercy. Already one of their ships was sinking fast as water flooded into the many holes blown into its side, while the crew jumped over the side into the swell.

But the Tevinter ships were fighting back as the mages on their decks fired at the enemy vessels. Fireballs had little effect on the soaked solid wood side of the ships. Using the 'stonefist' they summoned boulders from the sea floor and hurled them in to the Qunari ship sides. This was almost as effective as cannon shot as it ripped through the ships sides and allowed the water to flood in.

Hawke had just set another ship alight as he surveyed the battle. The fleet had lost many ships, both from the cannons on the shore, and now from the cannons on the ships. At a rough glance he thought they had lost roughly forty ships of the original six hundred. Looking at the Qunari fleet however it was clear they were winning this battle. The Qunari were losing ships very fast and very heavily.

With the combined attack from the other ships and from above, the Qunari couldn't focus on an enemy. When they tried to fire at a ship a fireball from the sky made them take cover, fetch water or shot arrows upward. And when they were trying to bring down the flying menaces the Imperial ships continued to attack and rip their ships apart.

As he watched he saw Merril on the Hessarian firing lightning at an elf on the deck of the ship they were engaging. The elf collapsed dead in a smoking heap and Merril fired again, bringing down another one.

The battle continued this way for a while until the surviving Qunari ships broke of and began to retreat the way they came. The Imperial fleet gave chase and captured or destroyed a few more of them. Then they ended their pursuit and began to see to the captured ships and the damaged ones.

Hawke flew down to the Hessarian's deck and embraced Merril in a victory hug and a kiss. But as much as he wanted to he couldn't stay long, he had to see what the situation was on the land battle.

As he flew back to Seheron he looked at the remains of the battlefield. Ships both Tevinter and Qunari bobbed in the water as they slowly sank beneath the waves. Others were still visible as the stern or bow could still be seen above the water level. Smoke rose from places where the ships had burned to cinders. And the water was teeming with survivors swimming in the water, trying to make it to the shore or to some floating debris.

As he flew over the land he saw the remains of the Qunari cannons still burning on the hill ridge. Bodies littered the ground, but he could see with immense relief that the Tevinter forces and mages had won the battle, but at a clear cost. The army was formed up inland with the Qunari prisoners, disarmed, were held in a circle of Tevinter soldiers.

As he landed on the ground he shifted back into his human self.

The soldiers saw him and raised a cheer for their commander. As he made his way to the centre of the army to debrief the commanding officer, he raised his staff in the air and yelled out to his soldiers.

"NA VIA LERNO VICTORIA!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long delay, I have been busy at work and then been out of the country. Anyway here it is.**

Chapter 6

Magister Hawke moved slowly through the semi constructed camp that would house the Northern Imperial army for the next few weeks of the newly began campaign in Seheron. It would also act as a defence for their newly gained foothold on the island. He walked through the rows and rows of tents and past the newly constructed wooden battlements. As he did so, he nodded and congratulated his troops on their first victory on Qunari soil.

He occasionally spotted a soldier he recognised for his or her feats on the battlefield. He had seen a number of men and women perform extraordinary bravery and skill in the previous battle. He made a point of personally applauding them for their efforts.

As he approached the soldier all knelt down before him in reverence. They usually showed signs of fear as he came over towards them. He supposed they feared he was about to reprimand them for something they had done to offended him, or some failure of theirs during the battle.

But all he had to say was a word of congratulations to them for their service and bravery. In a few cases of excessive service he offered them promotions or commendations. In one case of a young soldier from Minrathous who had singlehandedly killed three Sten during the battle (not all at once of course) Hawke rewarded his rather poor family with a large sum of money and a good piece of land outside the city in the fertile farmlands. The land was adjacent to one of Hawke's plantations. So it was within his rights to offer pieces of his lands to whoever he wanted.

The soldier upon hearing that his family wouldn't have to live in the slums, living hand to mouth on his soldier's pay anymore, reacted strongly. He fell to his stomach in front of Hawke and kissed the Magister's feet in gratitude. Two of his fellow soldiers had to haul him to his feet before Hawke could excuse himself and carry on with his duties for the day.

Hawke headed down the route to his command tent in the centre of the fort. On his way he kept an eye out for Merril, as she had told him that she would be assisting the healers in their work. Hawke had never been gifted with a talent in healing magic. His strengths lay with Elemental, Primal, Force, and Arcane. But Healing was beyond him it seemed so when Anders offered lessons years ago in Kirkwall; Hawke had told him to focus on Merril.

He eventually spotted her by a healer tent; she was using her magic to fuse the skin of a soldier stomach back together and stop the blood flow. He gave a smile as he watched her work, happy that for all the destruction they had wrought today. They were doing a few constructive things to make up for it.

Shaking himself out of his private thoughts on Merril (which weren't repeatable in polite company) Hawke continued on his way and finally made it to the massive golden tent that acted as his command headquarters and accommodations.

When he entered the tent the assembled military staff stood to attention and saluted him, all saying "My lord, Magister!" firmly during their snap to attention.

"At ease men." Hawke said as he motioned them all to return to their seats around the circular table that dominated the command tent. Maps, charts, and messages were plastered all over the boards that were placed around the canvas walls of the tents. Maps of Seheron showed the location of the army, the shipping lanes that would carry supplies and reinforcements to them from Tevinter. They also showed the major and minor cities on the island and the roads that lead to them. They also showed the believed locations of the Qunari armies on the island as well as the Qunari armies on Par Vollen and the surrounding archipelago.

The charts carried the results of the battle today, how many men they had lost and from what divisions. And they gave a rough count of the Qunari dead, as best they good guess from the body count.

All in all things had got off to a great start in this campaign. The army had won the first battle on Qunari soil. They had finished the battle with minimal casualties; about four thousand troops had been lost. Along with this fifteen ships had been lost with an additional thirty beached until they could be repaired.

Meanwhile the Qunari were estimated to have lost roughly twenty thousand men, along with eighty or so ships that had been sent to the bottom of the ocean. Hawke and the rest of the army knew they owed these numbers to the shifters and arcane warriors.

Before Hawke had taken command shifters had only been used in recognisance and spying. But some had recognised their potential and moved for them to be used as shock troops, Hawke had agreed, and the end result was clear.

Since the Arcane warrior technique had only recently be rediscovered in Ferelden by Warden-Commander Mairon Amell (Magi-Origin, and Hawke's cousin) Hawke was the only person in the Imperium who fully mastered the technique. He had learned it from First Enchanter Irving of the newly independent Circle of Magi in Ferelden. Irving had wondered about giving the power to a Magister at first. And if the Orlesian Chantry found out about it, no doubt they would arrest Irving for sacrilege. But upon hearing of his kinship to Marion, and seeing him as a good person, Irving had agreed to teach him.

Hawke had made sure that as many mages as possible learned the power, and it had paid off. The Arcane warriors had cut through the Qunari ranks like harvest wheat. The Qunari expected the mages to be swept aside at close combat. But instead they found themselves fighting heavily armed warriors with magically enhanced strength and speed. Not to mention having lightning, fire, ice, force and blood magic hurled at them. The Qunari horde faced with this and the shifters had fallen into chaos even before the main army had landed to the shore.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts Hawke banged his staff (the key of Hawke) on the table until he had quite and all the assembled captains and commanders looked to him.

"My fellow Imperials, we have won a great victory today. We have landed on Seheron in force, and our army stands ready to make this island ours once more."

The men around the table broke into a brief and controlled cheer and applause. Then they quietened down and waited for him to continue.

"We have had word that the remains of the Qunari army and fleet have fled south. We will fortify our position here, but then we will also move south after them. The army will leave a number of men to guard this fort. This will be our base of operations on Seheron for the time being. It is also our lifeline for our supplies and reinforcements."

A military aid passed the magister a scroll, which Hawke then rolled out across the table. The scroll was a fully detailed map of Seheron, showing the army's location as well of all the other fundamental information.

"The army will move south along this route" Hawke said as he traced the route with his finger. "We will eliminate any Qunari resistance we encounter. Remember though, ordinary citizens who do not oppose us are to be treated with all respect. They are not full Qunari, so they may be possible to bring over to our side. However those that use violence to attack use of hinder us, they may be either killed or captured and sent back to Minrathous."

Once again Hawke felt a pang in his heart for his agreeing to enslave prisoners of war. But the Archon, Senate, and imperial people expected new profits in the slave markets from this war. If Hawke failed to deliver on this, he might be replace with a Magister or Captain General who would enslave or kill non-combatants

"Once the army reaches this point" He pointed to roughly the centre of the island. "We will turn south and begin our march on the city of Alam. Meanwhile the fleet will move down the western coast and along the route to Alam. On the way they will raid, pillage and burn all Qunari outposts and ships they encounter. Once again they are under orders to leave civilians and non-combatants alone."

"When both the fleet and the army reach Alam, the fleet will blockade their port, while the army surrounds it from land. This way the city will be completely cut off from supplies or help. I am hoping this will lead them to surrender quickly. But it is likely they will stand and fight.

If that is the case then the fleet will attack and land troops from the port and the army will storm the walls and the city will fall to the combined might of our forces. Once again all civilians are to left in peace. All enemy combatants are to be enslaved or killed.

By this time the Qunari will have assembled their armies from the eastern end of the island and the lines will be drawn between us in this war. But we will discuss the plans for that in the future. For now we must focus on our defence and future offense.

He turned to his staff "Have we encountered any civilians or locals since we landed?"

Captain General Aelius stood up to speak "My lord we have sent our scout patrols across the land to uncover evidence of the Qunari retreat and the local populace's feelings towards us. We have discovered a number of small towns and villages, but most have been abandoned. It is likely the civilians feared we would kill or enslave them. And so they fled with the Qunari army.

Hawke nodded, this was not surprising "You said most of them Captain, were any still inhabited?"

"Yes my lord. We encountered two villages that either had not been informed of the Qunari defeat, or simply didn't fear us."

"That is encouraging, captain, I trust my orders were obeyed and the civilians were not needlessly harmed?" Hawke said dangerously as lightning sparked and crackled at his fingertips. He had no intention of following through on his implied threat. But he had to make is point about non-combatants unmistakably clear. Not only was it morally right, it was critical to the campaign.

The Captain visibly, but silently, gulped in nervousness. "Yes sir, we told them our intentions were to liberate, not to conquer. We even traded some coin to them in exchange for food and information. If the information turns out to be accurate, it could show that they have no real loyalty to the Qun.

Hawke relaxed and the lightning around his hands faded.

"Good, now then, I assume you all know your duties…..well then carry on and report to me once the fortifications are complete and the men are finished."

All of the military staff rose to their feet as Hawke stood up as well. As one they saluted him and said "Yes my lord!" And then they exited the tent, leaving Hawke alone with his thoughts.

He got up eventually and made his way to the entrance, intending to go and find Merril. She would be a welcome distraction from his plans for the next stage of the campaign.

In the city of Seheron far to the west of the Tevinter camp, the Arishok sat morosely on his 'throne' as he listened to the day to day grievances and notifications of the city, and by extension the island it was named for.

He had been the Arishok for little over a year, after the previous Arishok had been killed in the Bas city of Kirkwall, by the hand of the Bas Saarbas, and Basalit-an, Serah Hawke. After that event the remaining members of the triumvirate, the Arigena and the Ariqun, had named him as his replacement. At the time he had been a Sten, a highly regarded one

He had since been in Qunandar for the majority of his time. Unless it was for an important mission, members of the triumvirate rarely left the capital city. He had left before to command the fleet that would rescue the survivor's from the Free Marches. Only twenty or so Qunari had lived through the battle of Kirkwall. But they had retrieved the Tome of Koslun and their mission was fulfilled. The Tome was back where it should be, in the main temple in Qunandar.

He didn't want to imagine how close it had come to falling into the hands of the Tevinters

Once their agents had reported that the Tevinter Imperium was launching yet another invasion of Seheron. He had immediately readied the army and sailed to Seheron to command the defence.

He had learned of the place that the Tevinter invasion would come, and so had prepared both and army and fleet to intercept the enemy.

He was currently waiting for the news of the battle to return. Until then it was his duty to oversee the needs of the Karestan and other Qunari soldiers on Seheron and across Qunari controlled lands.

Just then a Sten came into the chamber and kneeled before the Arishok and the assembled dignitaries.

The Arishok motioned for him to speak and the Sten looked up with a murderous expression. "Great Arishok, the Tevinter Bas have landed of the northern west coast of Seheron. They have defeated out forces and landed successfully on the shores.

The dignitaries which consisted of elves and 'pure Qunari' began murmuring and talking among themselves in apprehension. The Arishok was thoughtful for a minute and then began asking questions of the Sten.

"What damages did we inflict and receive?" After being told the numbers and the crushing scale of the defeat, the Arishok rose to his feet and strode off the podium towards the Sten.

"How did an army of bas, led by unleashed Saarbas, manage to destroy our army so completely?"

The Sten replied immediately. "The Bas attacked us with new forms of magic that we have not yet seen. They changed themselves into swarms of flying vashadan and assaulted our armies and ships from sky, sea and ground simultaneously. Also the bas Saarbas have become Karestan as well. They now use sword and armour as well as their demon given powers."

The Arishok was visibly interested in this. In their centuries of war, they had never encountered a blade wielding Saarbas before.

"There is one more thing great Arishok." The Sten said with slight caution.

"What is it?"

The Sten took a moment and then continued. "We have learned from bas prisoners. That the Basalit-an known as Hawke is leading the Tevinter army."

The Arishok was silent as he processed this information. Then he slowly started to smile in a non-pleasant way "Good, we finally have a worthy enemy facing us." He then drew his sword which he held aloft for all the people in the room to see.

"And I swear by my sword and honour, I will personally shackle and collar that Saarbas myself, before this battle is over!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The town spanned alongside a river that slowly wove its way from the north and spanned the valley like a shining silver serpent. The buildings consisted of a water wheel mill that naturally sat at the side of the river and a small artificial waterfall. Across the small town centre was a building that resembled a town hall or at least a building big enough to serve as one. Next to that sat what seemed to be a school. Small children consisting of human, elves and the occasional Kossith ran and played in a small garden at its back. Half a dozen human and elf women kept close watch on them as they milled about and they either joined in on their games or disciplined them if they went too far in their play. Clearly they were Tamassran, a purely female role of the Qun. It was their duty to care for and teach the little ones before they were assigned their role in Qunari society.

On the other side of the town was a two story building with a distinctly military look to it. A number of Karastan stood outside the double doors, glaring in usual fashion at the town's people that were moving across the square. Their swords strapped firmly to their backs gleamed in the morning sunlight, looking as though they had just been sharpened. This come to think of it, was highly likely given the nature of Karastan. However it was possible that they were merely Ben-Hassrath. This would make sense as that would place them under the command of the Ariqun along with the Tamassran.

Dotted along the outer boundaries of the settlement were the houses of their occupants. A number of them held what were clearly businesses. There were bakeries, blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, animal breeders, and many more across the entire town. Clearly the Arigena also had a presence this town as well.

The town was called Maraas; it was situated about six hundred miles to the north of Alam and about seventy miles to the west. It was one of the Qunari strongholds on the island. Unlike much of Seheron it was not contested between Qunari, unconverted natives, or fog warriors. It was solely dominated by the Qun.

And that was the reason it was about to meet this fate.

Adrian Pullo folded his spyglass and slowly rose to a stand-up position, from the crouched kneeling position he had been in for ten minutes as he surveyed the town. As he rose to his full height he felt the joints and tendons in his legs click and snap back into place, he signed with relief when they felt normal again.

He placed his spyglass into his satchel that was hung across his tunic, along with the notes he had made about the town. He had taken the spyglass from a Qunari scout he had come across and managed to kill in a surprise attack. Since then he had grown immensely fond of the device. It made his job as a recon scout so much easier and his reports that much more detailed. Say what you will about the Qunari (and he had said a lot of things about them) but they were annoyingly brilliant in terms of science.

He slowly crept away from the tree line and moved deeper into the forest that he was hiding in. The forest that ended on the hills of the valley that the town sat in and it was what had allowed him to get so close. Even though it was almost a certainty that none of the Qunari was even looking in his direction, let alone see him. He wanted to be cautious anyway. Who knew if one of them happened to have a spyglass of their own?

He made his way back to his horse and quickly hoisted himself up. Being a scout he was wearing a simple tunic with trousers and a cloak. It afforded him the ability to move quickly and swiftly. Also it lacked to the noise and light reflection that armour would bring and almost certainly blow his cover.

Moving quickly he set of at a brisk pace back to the raiding party that would be waiting just a few miles into the forest behind him. Under orders from his lordship Magister Hawke, they were to take the town and claim it for the Imperium. All that fought were to be killed, all that surrendered were to be offered a choice. Submit to the rule of the Empire and renounce their loyalty to the government of Par Vollen. Those that did were to be left alone and their property was not to be touched. Those that did not were to be thrown into chains and sold into slavery, their property forfeited to the Imperial army.

Personally Adrian hoped that the women and children he had seen made the smart choice. He had no slaves of his own of course. (Barely 30% of the Imperial population were rich enough to own a single slave) But he knew very well what would become of the women if they were taken as slaves. The older ones would be sent to work in the houses of rich citizens, to clean their tables and scrub their floors. The younger and pretty ones would be sent across the Empire. Brothels always needed to meat, and almost all of their 'workers' were captured slaves.

Most of the children he had seen, if they were lucky would be taken in by a family to be a house slave or a play-mate for their children. This was the best they could hope for as they would be treated reasonably well, and if they served well they might even get freedom before they were full grown. However if they were unlucky, they would probably be sent to work in the Imperium's many factories. A fate they would be unlikely to ever escape from.

The men would have the worst fate. Assuming any of them survived, they would be sent to work for the rest of their lives in the mines or on the plantations. It was gruelling work that drove many into the grave, either by the sheer work load, or by their own hand. Again the lucky ones would be purchased as body guards or arena fighters.

Adrian was hopeful that most would avoid this, but he felt no conflict of his moral compass. The Qunari did the exact same thing when they conquered a people. And the southern nations had servants who were paid so little that it wouldn't feed them for a single day. At least Tevinter was honest about its practices rather than hide behind a mask of self-righteousness and hypocrisy.

And it was the way of Tevinter, 'the weak served the strong.' If you could not make yourself strong on your own willpower, then you deserved your fate.

Shaking his head free of those thoughts, he realised he had been riding on automatic control for the last hour or so. He was within sight of the assembled raiding force and their camp.

Atreus Vulso had clearly already seen him approaching and was getting his troops organised and ready as he rode out to meet Adrian. All around the camp men and women finished strapping on their armour, sliding their swords into their scabbards, and climbing on to their horses.

Atreus rode over as Adrian saluted him in Tevinter fashion.

Atreus: "What do you have to report?"

Adrian: "A small presence of Ben-Hassrath or possibly Karastan in the town sir. Also there was what appeared to be a school for young children with a dozen or so Tamassran seen around it. Total population of the settlement, at best guess, about seven hundred sir."

Atreus: "Interesting, and how many of those do you estimate are capable of bearing arms?"

Adrian: "I saw only a dozen combatants outside the military building, so I estimate about thirty or so. As Qunari teachings completely forbid women and children to fight, I would think that leaves only about three hundred potential combatants."

Atreus smiled at the information. It was a sizeable settlement, whose destruction or capture would be noted on the Qunari morale. It was also vulnerable to his command of a thousand soldiers. And he had newly been informed that he now had a weapon worth an entire army.

Atreus: "Solider, you have done well. Feel free to settle down and get some food and water down you. And then a well-deserved sleep, you have been out for two days now after all." He said "But before you do I think you should be told that we have a special quest joining us this time". He said barely able to hide his smirk.

Adrian: "Guest sir?"

For reply Atreus turned and motioned to a figure sitting on a white horse just behind him. The figure started to move closer and Adrian could see a spear staff on his back, armour beneath his cloak, and a black beard under his hood.

The figure reached them and then removed his hood, just as Atreus and all the other members of the group within eye shot, bowed in their saddles.

"Magister Hawke!" Adrian exclaimed and bowed as low as his body would allow him to while on horseback.

Hawke smiled and shook his head slightly at the reaction the scout displayed on seeing who he was. "Rise, rise all of you" He said loudly but gently. The soldiers around him slowly rose back up to full height. But they kept looking at him with an expression of awe and wonder.

He supposed it was to be expected. After he had landed the army on Seheron's shores and defeated the Qunari army there, he had been busy.

He had since then defeated three other armies that the Qunari had thrown at his invasion force. Each of them had been a stunning victory for the Imperium and a crushing defeat for the Qunari. The battles had been won with seemingly impossible flanking attacks, hidden ambushes, and at one point by Hawke summoning a massive firestorm that cut through the Qunari lines. After that he had managed to capture the northern city of Kost, and from there he had opened up the interior of Seheron to their forces. As well as open up a pathway to the critical southern city of Alam.

So far he had had more success on Seheron then any previous Tevinter commander in history. And many in the army and across the Imperium were thinking that they just might take back the province this time. Many attributed Hawke's victories to his genius or some form of magic or a gift from the Maker.

Hawke smiled at these stories, but they helped his armies' moral so he didn't try to stop them. Plus his sources back in Minrathous said that they had reached the Senate, and that Denarius was practically frothing at the mouth. And anything that made Denarius mad, made Hawke happy.

His victories had also been helped by his Tal Vashoth spies across Seheron; they had kept him informed of Qunari troop movements. From this, along with his airborne shape shifter scouts, he had been able to know where the Qunari armies were almost constantly.

He smirked; the Qunari had been defeated time and again by magic, all because of their intense fear of it. It was as his father had said once

"If you refuse to use a sharp weapon because you might get cut, then your braver enemy will kill you with it."

He brought himself back to the present and faced his soldiers. "Men and women of the Imperium hear my words. Today we have to take a lightly defended town that is the spear point of the Qunari indoctrination. The native Seheron's, Maker bless them have never fully submitted to the Qun. This town is stronghold of Qunari faith in otherwise unpacified lands, it must be ripped out."

"I expect every soldier to do their duty, I want no indiscriminate killing! Those that try to harm you, by all means send them to the void. But all who surrender and lay down their arms are to be spared and left unharmed! If anyone violates this order, they will face either slavery, or death by my hands, the choice will be theirs. Am I understood?!"

"Yes Sir!" The Imperials chanted.

Hawke continued. "I expect you all to do your duty; I expect the very best from you. And I know you shall give it. Because you are Imperial soldiers, and better yet, you are my soldiers! What say you?!

The soldiers erupted with cheers. There were shouts like

"Until death my lord!"

"To the fade and back my lord!"

"I'll fight against an army of darkspawn for you my lord!"

"I'll fight against an Archdemon!

Hawke was always touched by the loyalty his army had shown these past few months. The victories and immense booty he had won for them. As well as his charismatic and firm but fair nature (rare among Magisters) had caused them all to become deeply devoted to him.

Raising his staff he made it glow with golden light.

"Follow me then!"

Tamassran heard the noise as she finished putting away the books that had been the focus of the children's morning lesson. Signing she tucked her hair behind her elf ears as she turned around and began marching to the front doors that lead into the court yard. If she had to separate another pair of fighting Imekari today she was going to scream. It sounded like the boys were smashing and yelling again while fighting.

Suddenly she stopped as she heard the distinctive clash of steel. That was definitely not normal sounds when she was investigating a child fight. Unless the Imekari had managed to get hold of a Ben-Hassrath's weapon and were trying to kill each other. As unlikely as that explanation sounded she was having trouble thinking up a more plausible one….unless.

Suddenly the doors burst open and the children ran inside screaming and crying while the other Tamassran's hurried them inside with expressions of utmost terror and confusion on their faces.

After making sure that the Imekari were safe she turned to her friend and asked what in the name of Koslun was happening.

She turned her wild expression to face her "Bas!" She shouted "An army of Tevinter Bas is attacking the town!"

Tamassran felt her blood run cold. She knew that the war with the Tevinter Bas had been going badly lately since their latest army had landed on the west coast of Seheron. She had heard through Karastan and Beresaad that had passed through the town on their way to the battles or the cities. But she had no idea that the Bas had gotten this close! Last they had heard they were still in Kost, pacifying the surrounding region.

Snapping back to her senses she did a quick head count of the cowering crying children, and gasped. "There are only twenty seven here, where are the other three?!"

Her friend was near hysterical but she answered. "Three male Imekari said they wanted to go and help fight the Bas and they ran off before we could catch them. We decided we had to get the rest of them to safety." She cried as tears began to fall from her eyes. Tam could not blame her. After all they were women; they had no concept of fighting or warfare, that was the domain of men. And they had all heard horror stories of the Bas, especially the Tevinter and their ruling BasSaarebas and their practice of slavery.

Tamassran cursed under her breath and made for the door. Turning back she said "I will try to find them, if I am not back in five minutes, barricade the door behind me." And with that she dashed out into the street.

The scene she saw when she exited the school could have been dragged from her nightmares. People were screaming and running for shelter wherever they could find it, while Ben-Hassrath drew their weapons and ran to face the Bas. But she could already tell it was useless, the Bas were everywhere. Already they had infiltrated almost the entire town, she could see them from her slight vantage point in the square. They chased after fleeing settlers and cut down any that offered even a token resistance. She saw the Ben-Hassrath had been driven back to their barracks and were attempting to make a defence at the doors. But they were vastly outnumbered.

Suddenly the Bas soldier attacking the barracks fell back in retreat as the Kossith Bes Vathari managed to drive them out of the barracks. His twin sword flashing as he scythed down his opponents before they had a chance to defend themselves. Seeing this Ben-Hassrath rallied and charged out of the barracks into the town centre. And suddenly Tamassran was caught in the middle of a raging battle as Qunari and Bas slashed and stabbed at eachother.

Ducking and weaving as best she could she tried to get out of the melee and out to the side. But before she could take another step she was blasted off her feet by an invisible force that felt like a charging Dathrasi. She flew across the square and landed a good eleven metres back in a crumpled heap.

Looking up with blurred vision she saw that while every Qunari had also been thrown to the ground, the Bas were unharmed and cheering. Looking at the place they were facing she saw a figure emerge from the street into the square.

The Bes Vathari saw him as well and with a war cry he jumped to his feet and charged across the square to the figure. Ordinarily Tam would have bet her life that the stranger had only seconds to live. But she was unnerved when she saw that the Bas soldiers did not try to stop him. In fact they had formed a channel for him to run through to get to him, and they wore smug expectant expressions on their faces.

Just as the Bes Vathari was about to cleave the man in two, the stranger thrust out his empty palm. Instantly the Vathari was flung back into the dirt with the force of a cannonball. And the realisation hit Tam like a cannonball. The figure was a Saarebas, and a very powerful one was well, since they were the only kind that led Tevinter armies.

Vathari struggled to get up again; his left arm had clearly been broken by the force of the Saarebas's magic. Before he could raise his swords the mage raised his hands and lightning shot out to envelop Varthari. He yelled in agony as the lightning sent him onto his knees as he attempted in vain to escape the magical assault.

While this was going on Bas soldiers had been dragging kicking and screaming civilians into the town centre and bound them with ropes. Tam could see they must have broken down the back door to the school as they were dragging or carrying the children and the other Tamassran's. They then ordered them to sit down and remain quiet at the point of their swords. This they did and then they and the Bas watched as their leaders faced off.

After a few more minutes of torture, the mage lowered his hands and the lightning died. The Bes Vathari was still alive. But the lightning had rendered him immobile and helpless as the mage slowly walked over to him.

With a flick of his fingers, the mage used force magic to summon the Vathari's swords into his hands. Once he held them he used fire magic to heat them until they were red hot and then they melted into puddles of molten steel.

The mage reached the Bes Vathari and knelt down beside him. And then he spoke so all could hear him as he pulled down his hood and revealed a handsome face with jet black hair, beard and amber coloured eyes.

"I am Martin Hawke, Magister of the Tevinter Imperium, Champion of Kirkwall, Commander of the Imperial army of the North, Basalit-an to the Qunari."

There were gasps of recognition amongst the Qunari. They had all heard the stories of Hawke. How he had killed the previous Arishok and defeated them at Kirkwall. How he was high commander of the Bas armies they had faced lately. Many felt that the reason they had lost recent battles was because he was more worthy to lead then other Bas. He was a legend among the Qunari, both as a worthy enemy, and a cautionary tale for children. Tam herself had told a few tales about him to scare unruly children. She had said that if they did not behave then Hawke would come and get them in the night.

"I have come to reclaim Seheron as a province of the Imperium, as it was before the Qunari invaded."

The Bas soldiers cheered at that, but the Qunari yelled out angrily.

"I do not want to harm anyone unnecessarily, if you surrender to us, and renounce your loyalty to the Triumvirate of Par Vollen, you may continue to live hear in peace. Your homes and property will not be touched, and you may resume your daily lives. You will not be forced to abandon the Qun, you may keep your religion if you wish. Simply swear allegiance to me and the Imperium."

"If you do not do this then I must warn you, you will be taken prisoner and sent back to Tevinter and sold as slaves." Hawke turned to face the captured Qunari and for a moment Tam thought she saw real sadness and concern in his eyes.

"I beg you please do not make me do this, surrender and you will live as you have done in peace. Do not throw way your lives pointlessly. At the moment your fate rests in your hands, not mine."

He turned back to the still immobilised Vathari on the ground.

"What say you?"

The Vathari looked up at him and without warning, spat in his face.

The Bas soldiers became enraged at that. Many of them drew their weapons and advanced menacingly on the helpless Qunari. But Hawke raised his hand and merely wiped the saliva off his face with a piece of cloth from his armour.

Turning back to the Qunari, he raised his hand and pointed it at him. Then with a flick of his wrist, the Vathari's neck snapped a he fell instantly dead.

At that moment a Ben-Hassrath jumped to his feet, drew a concealed knife and ran at Hawke before anyone could stop him. Soldiers yelled out warnings and Hawke looked around and saw the charging elf. With a snap of his fingers the elf burst into flames before their eyes. After a few seconds of bloodcurdling screaming, the wood be assassin fell dead.

With that Hawke went around the captives with his offer. Those that agreed were released and allowed to return home with a trio of guards. (Hawke may have been merciful, but he was not stupid).

Those that refused were manacled and marched in a gruesome procession out of the town towards the west with flanking riders.

Tam saw Hawke nearing them. She didn't know what to do. She was loyal to the Qunari, bjt she wanted to live and be free so badly. Just then Hawke asked her group the question and was waiting their answer.

Meanwhile a Qunari was riding as fast as he could toward Alam. He had fled Maraas as soon as the Bas attacked. Now he had to fulfil his mission and bring word to Alam, Where the Arishok was waiting with a large army.

The scout grinned, soon they would drive those Bas back into the sea.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Town of Maraas

"What say you?"

Hawke waited patiently for the group of women and children to resond to his question. His eyes seemed to hold a silent pleading in them as he surveyed the young ones on the floor. They in turn stared up at him with eyes that were mostly filed with terror. But in a few of them they shone with curiosity as well.

Tam could see that as she surveyed the Imkari that sat around her. She also turned her attention to her fellow Tamassran. Most of them were looking at the Saarabas with gazes of intense hatred, none more so than the overseer from Seheron city. She had arrived only a few days ago from the city, and had since ben travelling across Seheron to unenlightened lands. It was her role to spread the Qun to all the people on the island who had not yet submitted to its wisdom.

She was a Kosslith and as such she towered over Tam's elven form. Her horns were curved around her head and acted as a natural band for her snow white hair that came down to her shoulders. Her eyes were golden coloured and in some cases they seemed to glow. She had a face that ordinarily would have made her very beautiful. It had and elegant grace to its features, it also gave her a look of intellect that she defiantly possessed. However that beauty was hidden under expressions that, while not unpleasant, seemed to bore into your soul.

She was wearing the usual uniform of the Tamassran. It consisted of a pair of black trousers, and on her torso two pieces of grey material that were secured on her waistline and her neck bracelet. They were stretched over her breasts and acted as a form of modesty that was acceptable among Qunari, but would have been seen only in a whore house in Bas lands.

The Qunari held gender as important in the culture, as it aided in the assigning of one's role. So they felt there was little need for modesty in such things. That was one reason Karestan wore no armour on their torsos.

She also wore a grey cloth around her waist as a form of belt. And from it a long red loin cloth was hanging from the front and back of the space between her legs. She was also were in a neck piece that seemed like a smaller version of those worn by saarabas with shoulder extensions coming out of it.

These were symbols of her station as a main enforcer and advisor to the Ariqun. She along with her sisters in rank were beneath only the Ariqun in terms of power in their section of the Qunari government. She was both formidable and knowledgeable, a person you did not want as a foe. And as Tam watched she rose to her feet and stared the now standing Saarbas directly in the face.

"We will never submit or serve you or your demon masters, Katara Bas!" She snarled with a look that faced with the Saarabas should have sunk into the earth.

Hawke gave a weary, almost heart breaking sigh. "Do you speak for everyone here or just do they not have minds of their own?"

She stood up straight and gave him a look of smug contempt. "We are all enlightened and strong in the knowledge of the truth. You are not dealing with Kabethari here Saarabas. We will not abandon the certainty of the Qun for the chaos of your simple lands!

But Hawke was now looking at the Imkari "And what of the children? Will you condemn them to a dark fate because of your beliefs? Or will you allow them to make their own choice?"

"They are young and still simple in their knowledge. They would make choices that would doom themselves to ignorance and purposeless. I will not allow that to happen. When the Qun destroys you and your minions, they will be returned to the family of the Qun."

Hawke closed his eyes as if in surrender. Then he turned around and motioned to his guards as he began walking to the next group of captives. At his signal the bas soldiers began moving on the prisoners with chains and shackles in their hands.

The sight of those tools of slavery and damnation were the last thing needed to break down the barriers of resistance in Tam's mind. She had only been a Tamassran for a few months, and was only nineteen years of age. And while she had been raised and always respected and believed the Qun. She had always had a smouldering resentment of the submission of her life to its whims. Hadn't asked or wanted to spend her life as a Tamassran. Vashedan, she wasn't even that fond of Imkari. She had made that clear and yet they had still placed her in this role. They had claimed that her station here would teach her the importance of youth and fulfil her desire to make a difference in the world. She had a longing to travel and see the places that she taught the children about. It was like being blind and having a masterpiece painting or a beautiful view described to her. It was maddening!

Jumping to her feet without really thinking she shouted. "Wait!" at the Magisters retreating back.

Hawke, the Overseer, the Tamassran, the Imkari, and most people in the square turned to face her.

Daunted, but undeterred, she continued. "I am willing to surrender and renounce the Qun. I would be willing to pledge my alligence and service to you Saarb…. I mean lord Hawke."

Hawke turned around and began walking over to her and the bas soldiers paused. But the next thing she knew, she was on her back as the Overseers fists rained down in her head as she struggled to defend herself from the sudden onslaught of both word and fist.

"You Viddath-bas, you Vashedan traitor, you…"

She got no further as she was suddenly yanked from her position over Tam's fetal position and suspended in the air just above her. She had an expression of utmost pain on her face and her body was seemed to be getting crushed by an invisible force.

In astonishment Tam turned to the mage and saw that his hand was outstretched and it was glowing with blue energy as he slowly closed it into a fist. The overseer constricted further as she began to utter gagging noises. Suddenly the mage reopened his hand and the energy dissipated. The senior Tamassran collapsed to the ground, coughing and hungrily sucking in air as she resupplied her lungs.

At a command from Hawke the soldiers chained her up and moved her out of the group to a small distance away.

Turning Tam saw Hawke standing in front of her and she slowly rose tom he feet as she faced him. Hawke immediately saw how she stood in front of him straight backed and proud with squared shoulders and raised chin. He smiled slightly; he could see she had some steel in her and a fire in her soul.

Tam saw his expression and continued. "I am willing to pledge myself to you lord Hawke but no one else's. You I have seen are a good strong man unless I read you wrong. I would serve you faithfully until the war is over or until I have paid you back for my life. But after that I must be allowed to go free. If you cannot or will not agree to that then I would rather take the chains over there."

Hawke's eyebrows rose as he uttered a small chuckle. She was defiantly a strong independent person. He could see into her mind a bit from her words. She was a natural free spirit, meant to fly into life rather than spend it in what was essentially a chantry. He supposed that was the reason for her offer, a chance at freedom.

"Do you have a name? A real name not a title?" he asked. She shook her head in slight sadness. "Ok well in that case what do we call you?

After a seconds thought she said "Tam, it is the closest I have to a real name any way."

Hawke smiled "Very well Tam it is. And if you are willing I am looking for a personal aid, my former one recently died of an affliction. You job would involve being a scribe, travelling with me on tasks to wherever that may take us. And other jobs like that. After this campaign is over if you wish it, you are free to leave. Does this meet with your approval?"

Tam hesitated as she had a nasty thought "Would my job involving warming your bed if you wished it?"

Hawke gave her look of what seemed to be reproach and hurt. "I am not that kind of man and anyway I have a lover. And I do not betray her trust like that! He said with a look that dared anyone to question his honour or devotion.

Seeing her mistake Tam immediately bowed her head "Forgive me my lord I meant to offense I just needed to know."

The fire left Hawkes eyes as he nodded his head "I understand." He turned to face the rest of the group. "Does anyone else wish to change their mind?"

One other Tamassran did and some of the children stood up as well. But regardless Hawke was not about to drag little children into slavery and damn what the Senate said. "Commander" A soldier run up to him and saluted "Yes my lord?"

Take this woman and all the children back into the school and leave them alone, unbound. But place guards outside the doors and windows. Take the remaining women and chain them with the others who refuse."

Turn he saw the Kosslith Tamassran, who after biting one of her guards, had been gaged. "Her chain up as well, but take her to the prisoner quarters in the army encampment. She is a high ranking person and could prove a valuable hostage."

"Yes sir"

Hawke faced Tam "As for her take her to Atreus and tell him she is to be well treated and sent to my tent in the camp." Seeing her nervous look at the thought of being alone with Bas soldiers he gave her a reassuring smile and put a hand on her shoulder. Nodding she walked off with the soldier as the others began un tying the children and dragging off the senior Tamassran.

A captain walked over to him and saluted. "My lord Atreus wants to know if we are to set the down on fire?"

"No captain, at this time the main army should have crossed the river further north and set up camp. This town is now within our lines and is to be protected. Never forget we come to liberate, not conquer."

"Yes my lord" The soldier replied and hurried off.

With a sigh of weariness Hawke turned and made his way to Pacorus who was tied up nearby.

Army Camp

Merrill had been expecting it to be Hawke who came into the tent next and so she had been waiting patiently for him to arrive. She was intending to give him a welcome back present from his weeklong scouting mission. She had written to Isabela about these sorts of things, and after toning down a few of her first ideas, she had chosen.

She had made him a roast meal of chicken which she had taken from the commander's stores and made it just how she knew Hawke loved it. He was currently keeping it warm and fresh with magic so it would still be ready after he returned from his meeting with the commanders. After a dinner she intended to reveal her second present which was also under advice from Isabela. It consisted of a ribbon tied in a bow wrapped around her chest under her armour. She would reveal this in their bedchamber later.

She was surprised when she saw another female elf walk into the tent. She seemed startled when she saw Merrill and almost left the tent. Merrill recognised her clothes as a Qunari and said hello in the Qunari tongue "Panahadan."

"Panahadan" The girl replied. She was you only about twenty or so. She had blond hair and blue eyes.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Merrill asked gently

"I am called Tam, I was sent here by the command of Magister Hawke I am to be his new personal aid. Are you another of his servants?"

Merrill smiled and laughed at the idea "No I am his Ma Vhenan" When she saw the confusion on her face she saw she would need to elaborate further. "His lover as you say. My name is Merrill."

Tam nodded in understanding "He mentioned he had a lover, he has returned and is talking to his commanders at the moment."

Merrill asked "Why did he mention me in the middle of a battle, I assume that is where you came from?"

She nodded and looked somewhat guilty "When he offered me this job I asked him if I would have to satisfy him in bed as well. He replied that he and you and honour."

Merrill didn't know if she felt more love at Hawke's reply or more anger at her for daring to accuse him of something like that! In the end the anger ebbed and she smiled.

"That sounds like him, anyway since it will be a while until he come back, come and sit with me, tell me about yourself."

Commanders Tent

Hawke and the Captain Generals sat around a round table with a map laid out before them of the immediate area. Along with the recent reports of theirs and enemy strength and movements and they brought unhappy news.

"According to our scouts and spies my lord the enemy army at Alam is much larger then we thought. Whereas we original thought the garrison consisted of 10,000 men with a chance of reinforcement numbering to 30,000. It seems the current enemy force at the city is roughly 80,000 men, including the Arishok."

The commander began muttering to themselves and each other in dismay. Hawke banged his staff for silence. "And what are our current numbers?"

"We currently number at just over 57,000 sir. With large parts of the army still securing the captured cities and lands as well as the casualties we have sustained in battle, we are vastly outnumbered."

Another general spoke up "How long until reinforcements reach us?"

"About two weeks, General Septimus is approaching with a force of 40,000 men."

The first general visibly relaxed. "Then what is the problem, we can wait until they arrive and then we can attack with overwhelming forces."

Hawke spoke "I am afraid the Arishok is not giving us that option. The Qunari army is approaching this camp at a fast pace. They know they have caught us by surprise and they intend to strike while we are vulnerable. If they can destroy this army then they will have the offensive and we will be forced to defend ourselves. That initiative could win them the war."

A third general spoke "My lord can we retreat and unite with Septimus in the middle?"

We could, but there is a reason why we hurried to cross this river now. If we had waited any longer the time of year would cause the river to flood and become almost impassable. And once that happens then we will be either forced to dig in and wait months until it recedes. Or attempt a landing with a hostile force on the other side. Which we can all agree would be suicide."

The council's faces all seemed to collectively fall at the news of their situation.

Hawke slammed his hand down on the table making everyone look up. "So we are forced to meet them here. We may be outnumbered but we possess our weapons and our courage. This is the battle that will decide if Alam falls to us or not. If we win then the city will be defenceless. If we lose then we will be forced to abandon this attack and withdraw until next season. And the Qunari will not be idle in those months. If they do not attack us then we will face Maker knows what defences and fortifications at Alam."

"We must win this battle. And with the river already rising at our back soon there will be no retreat open to us. So we must win or perish, it is us against the Qunari. And I for one, like those odds. He said as a laugh began to escape his mouth.

"What say you?"

As always Hawkes humour was infectious. Gone were the fears and doubts that had been sown and his council was laughing and cheering and making insulting gestures at the Qunari.

Hawke let them laugh for a while before he called for silence. " I will summon you all tomorrow to discuss our strategy. In the meantime, go about your duties."

With a salute they left the tent, and Hawke made his way to his own. And he could swear he smelt chicken in the air.

Qunari camp outside Alam

The Arishok watched as his Karastan soldiers marched in drill formation around the camp that they had set up early in the day. As far as he could see Qunari soldiers were engaged in their jobs. Drilling, exercising, sharpening weapons, moving supplies, and loading cannons.

Tomorrow they would march out to face the Bas army that was a few hundred miles to the North West. Then they would begin the task of driving them back into the sea and reclaiming western Seheron.

After the previous defeats he had studied the new tactics of the Tevinter army. The shapeshifters and the arcane warriors, the mages in general were the biggest threat by far. So after some thought he had thought of a way to even the odds.

He turned and looked at the barrels containing his secret weapon standing by the cannons along with the Gaatlock powder. If all went according to plan. In a week or so the Bas army would be annihilated and Hawke would be dead or in chains.

Hawkes tent

Hawke had just been enjoying Merrill's second present to him as he lay on his bed and relaxed as she fell off him and lay down on the bed at his side. After brief moment to allow both of them to catch their breath he faced her and brought his lips down to give her a deep kiss.

Merrill returned it eagerly and snuggled up beside him as he slowly placed him arm around her and gently traced his fingers along her bare back. Every time he touched a certain point she shuddered and gave a small sigh in pleasure.

Looking up at him she said "Ma Vhenan I wish I could go with you on these scouting missions, I miss you when you are not around." She said with a pouting look on her face that should have been on the face of a puppy by rights.

"Hawke smiled down at her and moved a stray strained of her hair out of her face "But don't these nights make it all worthwhile? To be honest you are making me go on these missions just by welcoming me back like this." He said with a laugh and carried on laughing as Merrill threw a pillow at him in mock indignation.

"We had better sleep darling, we have to be up early to attend the council tomorrow." With a nod and a final kiss, they closed their eyes and drifted off.

Command Tent

Hawke, Merrill and the Generals stood in front of a map that showed a valley just a few miles march from here that Hawke had already scouted out as an eagle.

"We will arrange our forces here, there is water on one side and hills on our left, it will secure our flanks and allow for us to focus our forces in one direction. And it will not hinder our shifters in anyway."

"The Qunari will attack in standard form. We our outnumbered and they will have groups of a hundred or so in squares in rows and rows of straight lines to play to their strength of infantry. It is a wise formation, but not as wise as they think."

At a gesture, lines appeared on the map until showed the intended formations of the Tevinter and Qunari armies. "Our forces will be arranged like this, the curved crescent moon, strong yet flexible. I will command this line with arcane warriors all along it. It will also make it harder for them to aim their cannons well. I can't explain enough its importance to this battle."

"The Qunari will see our formation but they will not fear it. They will have the courage that comes only with great numbers and we will let them believe. Before our lines engage I want you Merrill to attack their cannons with the shifters."

Merrill nodded and gripped her staff.

The Qunari will then advance on our lines, they have numbers and they will use them. When they engage we must slowly give ground."

He gestured to the three general who would also command the line. " When the line falls back, which it must, the Qunari will be sucked in , they will throw forward more and more troops. And at this point, the Qunari will think they have won.

He smiled as his men looked at him to continue. "Let them taste victory. And then the shifters who have hidden in animal form for a day mobilise on either flank and block them off, I want most of them to be arcane warriors and all of them battle mages."

He looked back to the map as the magic formations acted out his plan. "They will be surrounded and hemmed in on three sides. Bunched together and confused they will have no clue which way to go. Merrill you will then return with your shifters and cut them off at their rear."

He looked up at his council "They will be completely surrounded, there will be no mercy."

Battlefield

Hawke stood in front of his army as he looked toward the Qunari host that was gathered before him. He had requested a parley with the Airsick before battle commenced. He was hoping that they might surrender peacefully. But he knew he had about as much chance of that as of the ocean turning to wine. He was glad to see them organised exactly as he had planned them to be. Qunari discipline could be a flaw as well as a virtue. The Qunari were trained to fight pitched battles in one way only which made them predictable.

As he thought he saw a huge (even for Qunari) figure emerge from the enemy lines and walk over to him. He was a hornless Kossith Qunari with braided hair across his head. He wore the standard clothes of the Arishok and Hawke mentally winced at the memories they brought up. In his hand he carried a giant hammer made of what seemed to be gold plated steel. It was as long as he was tall and it made Hawke shudder to think of being hit with that. It made him tighten his grip on his spear staff.

The Arishok reached him and set his hammer up like a staff, the point on the back end plunging a good two inches into the hard earth.

"Arishok"

Hawke, Basalit-an"

Before Hawke could say anything the Arishok said "You remind me of a Kadan I once travelled with in Ferelden."

"I am from Ferelden, who do you mean?"

"You know him as Warden Commander, Hero of Ferelden, Mairon Amell."

Hawke started he had heard stories of Marion travelling with a Qunari, but he never thought he would meet him. "I am Marion's Cousin, my mothers family name was Amell."

The Arishok raised an eyebrow at that but then they hardened "Claiming kinship to a Kadan will not earn you my mercy, even if it is true."

Hawke sighed "So no chance of a surrender then?"

"You will only enter Alam over my corpse. If you surrender and submit to the Qun, your army will live as long as they do the same. But I know you will not accept this chance peacefully. So we must do battle."

Hawke sighed

"So be it."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Battle of Zenium

Hawke stood in place as the Arishok remained where he was in front of him between the two armies. This was probably the most civil conversation that a Qunari Arishok and a Tevinter Magister had ever had in the last few centuries, possibly ever. The massive Qunari continued to survey his army, but mostly his eyes remained fixed on Hawke.

Hawke was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the Qunari's gaze and began to feel his skin itch. He wanted to back away, fidget or even start singing, anything to break the ground shattering tension that was in the air right now. But he knew that if he did anything like that then he would instantly lose the stare war and any psychological advantage he had over the Arishok.

Finally after what seemed like an age the Arishok opened his mouth, giving an impressive look at his teeth (fangs) and spoke once more. "Shanedan Hawke, it is good to finally meet a high regarded Basalit-an like yourself." He looked part Hawke to observe the Imperial army "It is saddening to see so many fight against the certainty of the Qun and thereby the world. But not unexpected, so many in your Bas lands are lost and without purpose, none more so than in your Imperium, where you Saarbas rule over all through your demon magic. When the Qun is finally brought to them, we will have much to do in Tevinter."

Hawke smirked and shook his head in the many that a father would humour a foolish thing their child said to them. The gesture was not lost on the Arishok, whose scowl visibly increased.

Hawke spoke "For all the things I respect about the Qunari, and there are more than many would think. One quality I have never been able to reconcile myself with is your sheer arrogance. To be honest it would give a pride demon a run for its sovereigns."

The Qunari's scowl turned into a snarl of rage and for one moment Hawke thought he was going to attack him. But the Qunari's hammer did not leave its position just yet. "How dare you compare the work of the Qun to the actions of the demon that infest your civilisation?! Your Imperium is built and sustained on evil magic's and the backs of slaves who you chain like animals beneath your heel. In the Qun all have a purpose and all have value, can you not see how the world would benefit from that?"

Hawke's smile faded as he glared at the Qunari before him. "As I said, arrogance. You condemn us for our practice of slavery, a practice I hope to end soon, while you so righteously chain your mages in a manner that makes the Templars look benevolent. Any who refuse to accept your Qun are sent to work to death in the mines or labour camps that have bone fields outside them that put Kirkwall to shame. Is your Qun certainty or is it brainwashing? Tell me have you ever even considered how you would feel if you were not indoctrinated at birth?"

The Arishoks fingers tightened around his weapon as he struggled to reign in his temper. "If a begger refuses the food you offer him and would rather die, do you cram it down his throat? What purpose is there for those who reject their role in this world, they can only work for those who have accepted their place and ensure their chaos does not spread. But we are wasting our time here, I am no more willing to educate then you are to listen. That will be the role of the Ariqun when your army is defeated and Minrathous has fallen to us."

For the first time Hawke was undiplomatic enough to laugh aloud. After a moment of catching his breath he showed the Qunari's his open palm. "My dear Arishok, hair will grow here before you set eyes on Minrathous. That city has stood against elves, barbarians, darkspawn, Qunari and Andraste herself. So forgive me if I am not overly impressed or intimidated by your threat."

"Words are cheap." The Arishok spoke.

"Indeed they are." Hawke replied flippantly

"I will look for you on the field of battle this day, Magister. As the only Basalit-an in your whole army, you will be the only worthy challenge." With that the Arishok turned and marched back to the Qunari lines. While Hawke turned on his heel and headed back to the Tevinter army.

As he strode into the company of his commanders at the back of the crescent formation, he gave Merrill a quick embrace and a kiss as he whispered in her ear how sexy she looked in her form fitting battle armour. He also mentioned that he hoped the palace in Alam had a decent bedroom.

Merrill blushed as she hugged him tightly to her and then stood back as they both made their way over to the Captain Generals as they made their final preparations for the battle. Hawke clapped his hands together and got their attention as he strolled over to them. They all saluted with the lower ranked soldiers around them bowed.

"Strangely the Arishok refused my demand for surrender, do you think my offer to trim his ridiculous looking beard was a bad move?"

The soldiers snickered and chortled as they imagined that sight.

"Decimus, are we all set?" Hawke enquired

"We are my lord, the army is laid out in your specifications and the shifters are still concealed in the trees and grass on the sides of the valley. The arcane warriors are dispersed among the front line and the shifter contingents. Archers are at the rear and we have a mule supply line carrying thousands of spare arrows for them."

At that moment the sounds of the Qunari horns flared into life as the Arishok gave his army the signal to advance. At the same moment the cannons on the ridge were being loaded and aimed at the Tevinter horde. The cannons would not be able to fire for long without risk of hitting their own advancing army. But that would be long enough to tear holes in the Tevinter formations and inflict high casualties. Hawke would have not advanced the army if he was Arishok. But like he had predicted, the Qunari numbers and natural arrogance led them to march into a headlong conflict.

"Well then gentlemen it seems the party is starting without us, to your posts and may the Maker be with you this day. And the drinks are on whoever takes the head of the Arishok…so it will probably be me dammit!" With a final laugh the commanders dispersed among the arm with Hawke and Merrill taking their place side by side at the centre of the front lines.

Hawke drew his spear staff off his back and watched as the sunlight reflected off the sharpened steel. Next to him Merrill took her staff out as well, it was a model on Keeper Marithari's staff with a sharp blade on the end, a good combat weapon. All along the line the Tevinter soldiers drew their weapons in a massive sound of grating metal.

On the ridge Hawke saw the first explosions and knew that the cannons had begun to fire. The first few shots fell wide as the dirt a few metres in front of the army erupted as the cannon balls crashed into the earth. Hawke knew that the first volley would likely be a miss, but he also knew that the cannon crews would be adjusting the aim right now. And the next volley would be far more likely to score a hit.

Raising his staff into the air he yelled out "All soldiers kneel and shields up!" With that He, Merrill and all the soldiers in the line fell to one knee and raised their shields over their heads. Further down the line, officers parroted the orders and soon the entire army of thousands was in that position.

He knew that this way there was a slightly less clear target for the cannons to hit. The shields would protect against any arrows the Qunari had but would be next to useless from a direct hit by a cannonball.

Even as he thought that he heard a crash and screams of pain far off to his right as a cannonball struck home in the centre of his army. Moments later more of the same was happening all around him as the deadly artillery smashed into his soldiers. Soldiers had limbs ripped off as they fell to the blood stained ground screaming like stuck pigs. Others were decapitated before they could even process what had happened to them. And others were blown to a splotchy red mass of what was once a sentient being.

But Hawke had trained his army well, and whenever a hole opened up from a cannonball strike, the soldiers from behind rushed into fill the gap.

Meanwhile the Qunari front line had advanced close enough for the Tevinter archers to unleash a little payback. As one they pulled back on their bows and let fry with over five thousand arrows into the sky. For a moment it was as if a cloud had blocked out the sun as the projectiles flew and then they came crashing down on the advancing Qunari ranks. Many of the Karastan had typical Qunari shields and raised them against the oncoming missiles. But some of them only had their blades and none of them had extensive armour.

The entire front rank of the Qunari force fell as the arrows slammed into the Karastan soldiers. Many fell and lay writhing on the ground with arrows in their stomachs and shoulders. While others had arrows (some more than one) embedded in their arms and legs, some even had their feet pinned to the ground. The rest were unlucky to have been hit in the neck or chest and fell stone dead to the floor as their blood began to stain the grass as the Qunari marched on. The Qunari did not stop to help their fallen comrades and continued to march forward. The wounded would just have to wait and hope that they would be recovered at some point.

The front rank of the Qunari stopped and raised their throwing spears over their heads. Then at a command from the Arishok they cast them into the Tevinter front ranks. Hawke immediately cast an arcane shield around himself and Merrill. And they both watched as the spears cast at them defected harmlessly off the glowing sphere. The rest of his army was not so lucky. While all the mages used the same shield and many normal soldiers battered the spears down with their shields. Still many men and women were impaled on the spears and collapsed in a heap as the deadly barrage continued.

Hawke felt his temper rising, not so much out of concern for his own safety. But mainly because the Qunari had dared to attack Merrill, the woman he loved. And they had hurt his soldiers who he had come to feel as like an extended family. With this feeling he summoned his power to him and with a blinding flash of flames; he created a fire storm in the Qunari ranks.

Dozens of Qunari caught in the giant swirling tower of flames that suddenly appeared among them were immediately reduced to smouldering corpses. While dozens of others were horribly burned as they stumbled blindly away screaming as their skin cracked and fell clean of the bone in some cases. Other mages along the line saw what Hawke had done and soon the air among the Qunari army was filled with a chaotic barrage of elements. Fireballs rained down from the sky, blizzards blew frigid wind and ice into the Karastan, lightning arched across the sky stabbing down in vicious bolts. It was as if the gods had unleashed the power of nature among the Qunari host.

Hundreds of Qunari fell to this magical onslaught, some frozen solid, others burned to ash, others blasted by lightning. But the Qunari were not a feared military power for nothing, pushing through the elemental inferno, the Arishok commanded all his troops to charge

"Shok Nehraa!" And with that the Qunari lead by the Arishok broke into a full scale charge to close the few remaining metres that lay between them and the Tevinter army. Hawke could see is men were itching to meet the Qunari charge with one of their own. But if they did they would break the formation of the army and risk the plan.

"Hold men, they are coming, ready weapons!" The tevinters raised their swords and presented their shields in an interlocking shield wall, with their sword points poised over the rims of the shields.

As the Qunari force drew closer and closer Hawke aimed his spear at the nearest Karastan that was bearing down on him. Just as the Qunari was about to engage him, a lightning bolt shot out of their spear tip and at point blank range it blasted clean through the soldier and killed the one behind him. After that Hawke had no time to admire his kills. Soon he as ducking, weaving, slicing, stabbing, blocking and grappling with the seemingly endless Qunari soldiers who wanted to kill him.

All around him the armies collided into a frenzy of battle. The Qunari swords came slamming down on the Tevinter shields and swords, in an attempt to batter them into submission. Meanwhile the Tevinter soldiers maintained their orders and kept the shield wall unbroken as they jabbed and stabbed at the exposed Qunari when they had the opportunity.

Hawke sliced the head of a human Karastan clean off his body and spun to run another Kosslith through the gut. But he did not move quick enough to avoid the spray of blood that gushed from the stump of his first victim's neck. The red fountain splashed down on his armour as he pulled his spear from the torso of the already dead Qunari. His vision was briefly obscured as the blood fell across his eyes. When he had cleared his face off enough to see he opened his eyes to see a Qunari blade swinging at him. Acting on instinct rather then thought he ducked and as he did so he dived to the right. He avoided having the life cut out of him, but he gritted his teeth in pain as the sword left a gash in the back of his shoulder down to the left of his spine.

Sensing the movements of the Qunari behind him, Hawke kicked out behind him while on all fours on the ground. The armoured boot connected with the knee cap of the elf soldier with such force that the knee joint broke out of place. The elf collapsed on his now useless leg, shrieking with pain as the damaged knee hit the ground with the full force of his body.

Acting fast Hawke jumped to his feet, placed his hand over the elf's face and fired an arcane bolt. At point blank range the blast caused the elf's head to explode as if he had a small lyrium bomb in his mouth. The tattered remains of what was once a face fell back with a shocked expression frozen on the half of the head that was readable.

Turning Hawke saw that he had failed at his own plan. The Tevinter lines were falling back, as he had ordered, and he was now almost surrounded by enemy troops. At that moment a Kossith who (from his armour) appeared to be a Sten levelled his sword at him with the point aimed at Hawke's throat. His soldiers surrounded the Magister with their weapons poised, as the Tevinter soldiers saw what had happened and fought to reach him. But as fiercely as the Imperials fought the Qunari were just as determined to sever the head of the beast with Hawkes capture or death.

The Sten with his sword at Hawke's throat spoke with a smile of supreme satisfaction on lips. "Surrender Saarbas and submit to the judgement of the Salasari, or face death here by my blad-"

Before the Sten could finish his threat, Hawke smacked away the blade his is arm guard. And in the same motion he raised his now glowing fist to the sky, and then brought it down to earth with all his might.

Immediately the Qunari soldiers surrounding him were lifted off the ground, many of them dropping their weapons in surprise. For an instant they floated in the empty air as they fought to right themselves and return to the ground. Then they fell to earth with such bone shattering force that many of them were killed by the sheer trauma to their bodies. While the others were still struggling to their feet or moaning of newly received injuries. Hawke lept over them and made his way back to his own soldiers who greeted their lord with warm reception and quickly closed in around him for protection.

Hawke quickly surveyed the battlefield for Merrill and was immensely relieved to see her silver armour shining against the dull armour of the soldiers. She was keeping well back from the front lines as he had requested. She knew as well as him that she was no warrior, and so kept back firing fire and lightning into the Qunari ranks. At the same time she unleashed her Dalish nature magic on the enemy as roots and tendrils shot up from the ground and impaled or chocked the Qunari to death.

The battle seemed to last for only minutes, but it was over two hours later when the Tevinter lines had fully fallen back and the crescent moon formation had doubled back on itself. The Qunari ranks were pushing forward with further increasing vigour. They were well aware that if they could break the Tevinter line in the now stretched centre, then the battle would be theirs. Harder and harder they pushed their shields and swung their swords at the shields and armour of the steadily falling back Imperial army.

Hawke himself was in the thick of it. He cut down swaths of any Qunari who was foolish enough to come within five feet of him. Blood dripped from his blade as he swung it in a savage arch, bisecting a Qunari Karastan. Lightning flew from his body and struck down enemies in a manner fit for the ancient gods. Tevinter soldiers watched in awe as the piles of bodies that surrounded him rose even higher with each passing moment. They watched in fascination as many Qunari who even approached him clutched their heads and began screaming as entropic madness tore their minds apart from within.

The Qunari soon gave him a wide berth as they focus on the rest of the army

.Hawke finished off his last enemy with a blade in the eye socket and then he looked around to observe the battlefield.

The plan had come about perfectly and while it had cost his army many lives in the fake retreat it was now time to spring the trap.

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The Arishok had been in the midst of battle from the start, his hammer had crushed Imperial soldiers, and mages to a messy pulp. And he had led the forward advance that had begun to cut through the Bas centre line. But now he had been forced to withdraw to the command line to observe and direct the battle.

His army had suffered greatly, the admittedly impressive tactics of the Bas Karastan had brought many of his warriors down and many more had been wounded. He had no doubt it was the training and leadership of the Basalit-an that had caused this new found strength. The dark powers of the Bas-Saarbas had been the most aggravating thing. The mere fact that they were here, unbound and performing their demon magic on the devout followers of the Qun with such a devastating effect, was enough to make him snarl quietly.

He like most Qunari had pity for the Saarabas rather than outright hatred. And in the time he had travelled with the Kadarn Marion Amell, he had seen that some were worthy of respect. But the idea of a nation where they ruled all things was intolerable and left a bad taste in his mouth. For the greater good of all the Qunari must destroy the Tevinter Imperium and wipe its foul foolish ways from the world. And once he destroyed this army in front of him, they would be one step closer to doing so.

But first he had to destroy this army which was proving to be tougher than he had originally thought. He could see that they were gaining ground, but at the current rate many more Qunari would fall before they managed to break the Bas lines. And that was something that he would not allow if he could prevent it. The Bas

The Bas line was still very extended by they were crowded together to compensate for the lost ground they had given up. That would work very well with what he hoped would be the fatal blow that would end this army and by extension the Bas invasion of Seheron.

Raising his arm he gestured to the cannons that were based within a reasonable distance behind him on the rise of the valley. They raised a coloured flag and showed that they had received and understood his order. Seconds later they fired their cannons and the projectiles flew over the heads of the fighting armies.

At the end of their climb the containers exploded. The Bas assumed that the cannonballs had malfunctioned and detonated. But then they noticed the green cloud that they had created descending on them.

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Hawke watched in horror as the Saar-qamek cloud closed in around his army. While most of the Imperial army had no idea what they were staring at, Hawke, Merrill and some of the commanders knew, and were scared.

The cloud had reached ground level and already Hawke could see some of his soldiers begin to suffer the effects. They were showing signs of disorientation, wild eyes, random noises or words, and falling out of formation.

Hawke could already see that in the front ranks the well-formed lines of the Tevinter army that he had been so proud of this day begin to fall apart. The Qunari were quick to press the advantage and as cracks began to appear in the lines the Qunari began to push through.

Hawke was desperate; he didn't know what to do or how he could not have expected this?! Saar-qamek was the perfect weapon for this situation, lethal to his own army and turning them against one another, while the Qunari remained unharmed. Thinking quickly and casting a spell on him to protect himself from the gas for a time he raised his staff and fired green sparks into the sky. He had to order the flank ambush now before the Qunari shattered his main line with the effects of the gas. If he could distract them long enough for him to clear the cloud then they still might just carry out the plan.

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Cornelius Aticus, contingent commander of the 4th cohort of shapshifters watched the battle from a tree branch in the form of an eagle. His heightened eyes saw every detail of the battle and so the signal sparks were very distinct to him. Immediately he flew down from the tree and in a flash of light he transformed back into his human form.

Not sparing a moment he raised his sword and turned to signal the rest of the hidden shape shifters. Before a minute had past a group of ten cohorts had arranged themselves on the hill. Each cohort held exactly 480 soldiers, so 4800 mages and arcane warriors now stood at the flanks of the Qunari army with an equal number appearing on the other side.

Cornielus did not know what the strange green mist that the Qunari had fired was, but he did know that it couldn't be good. And it could not be a coincidence that the order to attack had come right afterwards. So he would do all he could to avoid it and make sure those under his command did as well. Thankfully he had to attack the flanks and they were not within range of the gas.

With a blow of his horn he led the charge that sent them smashing into the stunned Qunari flanks and butchered scores of them before the Qunari were able to react.

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The Arishok watched in shock as suddenly his army was surrounded and hemed in on three sides. It was only then he realised why his gradual push into the Bas centre had been so flawless. Hawke had planned it all, everything the Qunari had striven to do had played directly into his hands.

They had pushed the Tevinter line back with their superior numbers, but Hawke wished for just that move. He had made them become so focused on breaking through their lines for victory that they had sacrificed cohesion for a simple mass of Karastan that was crowded together so tight they couldn't form proper lines to deal with the threat from the flanks.

With a roar of frustration he seized his war hammer and led his guards down into the battle. The only hope now was that they could break through the main bas line with the aid of the saar-qamek. If they could do that than they could break out of the trap and then finish off the flanking attacks at their leisure.

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Hawke withdrew his blade from yet another Qunari that had challenged him and surveyed the battle. The Qunari were pushed his main line to the breaking point, if something didn't stop the maddening effects of the saar-qamek soon then the Qunari would manage to destroy his line and with it his chances of victory this day, or possibly ever.

Even as he watched he saw two of his men tearing at each other's flesh like mad beasts. The mist effected at a different pace for everyone. The only thing that had saved his line for the moment was that some had yet to descend into madness, and others who had fought the Qunari rather than each other. But it would not last for long on either account. And he could see that while his flanking attacks were devastating the crowded Qunari horde, it was not intended for a quick killing blow. It was meant to be a slow grinding attack of attrition, killing until there were no more to be killed, and that would take hours.

Hours his font line didn't have.

Only one thought came to mind. But even as he thought about it he knew that it was nearly impossible, and even if it worked it could very well cost him his life.

But at that moment he saw Merrill being forced back by the Qunari advance, she was limping and she had clearly been injured. It was clearly not a serious one as she continued to fight. But it was enough to make up Hawkes mind.

Briefly transforming into an eagle he made his way to the centre of his buckling line and the centre of the cursed mist. When he reached it he tore open his side pouch and pulled out every Lyrium vial he had. At quick count he saw ten, six small, three medium and one large vial. Without pausing to think he ripped the caps off and poured them down his throat one by one.

The first six replenished his diminished magic and with each added does he felt his connection to the fade increase and grow stronger. But the time he and downed the seventh vial his vision was becoming distorted and his body shook. As the fade opened to him he began to lose feeling of most of his body as the Lyrium caused him to channel more and more magic into his being.

The most Lyrium potions had ever had was two in the fight with the Arishok. His father and everything he had ever heard warned him that too much was dangerous. The mages mind became far more at risk of demonic possession as they drew more from the fade. Even if they did not the sheer power they absorbed, if not prepared correctly, could cause them to fall into a coma or even die.

As Hawke opened the final large vial and began to drink the potion he felt as if every cell in his body was a burning inferno of power. It was and indescribable feeling as the magic began to manifest as a glowing blue light around him and bolts of power fired and sparked around him as the glow grew into a blaze of golden fire.

He finished the last bottle and with a fit of energy smashed it down on to the trampled earth where it shattered. The power of the fade seemed to burst from behind the veil between worlds and poured into him like water from a flood gate.

Around him people were beginning to notice and Tevinter and Qunari alike turned and stared at the Magister as he shuddered and shook violently as the magic in him seemed to send shockwaves through the air around them.

Hawke sent one last look at Merrill who was staring at him with surprise and saw her eyes widen as she realised what he had done.

With that Hawke plunged into the seemingly endless power that he had called forth and attempted to focus the raging inferno into a form to take, an element to use. He raised his hands to the heavens and as he did so he felt the wind quicken and the temperature drop sharply as the grass beneath his feet began to glisten with frost and the clouds began to darken.

The Qunari seemed to realise what he was planning, or they just assumed rightly that it would not be good for them. They tried to reach him to cut him down, but the Tevinter soldiers both rabid and coherent refused to let them pass.

With an almost primal yell of power, Hawke flung his arms to the side as he finished the spell and unleashed it. A deadening howl of wind and thunder erupted over the entire battle field, almost bringing the entire battle to a stop.

Before anyone could react a blizzard like the world had never seen descended on the valley floor. The Tevinter soldiers were amazed that despite the immense size of the spell, their magister had controlled it to avoid them. The Qunari meanwhile were frozen were they stood, turned immediately from warriors to ice sculptures. Rank upon rank of them vanished as the blizzard powered through their army and continued its destructive path.

The icy wind that blew with the force of a hurricane blasted away the mist of the saar-qamek as if it were a bad dream. As it vanished Merrill saw that those who had been affected began to return to their right minds and shake their heads with dazed expressions on their faces. The power of the spell also caused it to absorb the power that fuelled it and within a few seconds the snow storm died.

But it had done its job.

The saar-qamek was gone, the Tevinter main line reformed and hundreds, possibly thousands of Qunari had been sent to their frozen death. While those that remained were once again surrounded on all sides with the loss of many of their number.

Hawke fell to his knees, and as he slipped into unconsciousness, his last sight was of Merrill running toward him.

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"Ma Vhenean…Ma Vhenean…..please, in the name of the creators wake up."

Hawke heard the voice from what seemed to be a long distance, as he drifted in the void between sleep and the waking world.

Realising that the voice was Merrill's his eyes snapped open. He rose from the bed so fast that he collided with the wooden end of Merrill's staff as she bent over him. Falling back with his head rigging he looked at his love whose eyes shone with relief.

"Merrill, are you alright, are you hurt, where are we, what happened to the army, who won the battle, where is…?!"

Merrill clapped her hand over his mouth to stem the flood of questions. "Ma Vhenean it is alright. The battle was won, your blizzard destroyed the cloud and we were able to surround and destroy the Qunari army. The Arishok escaped back to Alam, but the city is under our siege now and he cannot escape."

Hawke felt the fear flood out of him as he fell back to the comfort of his bed in what he now realised was his command tent. Just long enough for Merrill to hit him in the head.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again?" She yelled.

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The Arishok stood morosely on the battlements of Alam as he watched his men prepare for siege and watched the Bas army finish setting up their defences around the city that they intended to take.

"Well played Hawke, round one to you."


	10. Chapter 10

**As you may or may not have clued into. It is exam period and I have been very busy with both my dissertation and with exams at university. I have managed to find some time to update. But do not expect more immediately.**

Chapter 10

The walls of Alam stood imposing and fortified in front of Hawke. The fortifications made of strong and well laid granite blocks. The reports he had from his agents indicated that they were at least a spear length thick. On top of them the battlements and ramparts were teeming with Qunari soldiers manning the walls.

He could see the karastan with armour freshly polished and cleaned, and weapons no doubt freshly sharpened. Archers lined the walls with the quivers full to capacity as they held their bows constantly at the ready. Behind them in a silent formation were the infantry of the Arishok's army. The walls stood at roughly 80 feet tall and the towers that dotted it stood at just over a hundred feet above the ground.

Even now he could hear the extra fortifications being laid against the massive oak gate that led into the city. The Qunari were hammering extra pieces of wood and metal to the gate to give it extra strength in the face of battering rams and other methods of forced entry. This was an added obstacle in his plans, but at the same time it was a good sign. The fact that the Qunari were well and truly sealing the gate showed that they were digging in deep for a defensive siege. If they had felt more confident, they would have held on to the option of sallying out to attack his siege fortifications. But they had clearly despaired of that idea, and were standing purely on the defensive.

The city was almost completely hidden behind the wall except for the tallest buildings in the city. The temple of Koslun, the administration centres, and the acropolis were visible over the rim of the ramparts. The tall towers made of gold coloured bricks rose into the sky, with shining spires that pointed to the heavens. The roofs were designed with a segmented quality that Hawke had seen in a few Tevinter buildings, but not many. But since Seheron was a Tevinter province before the Qunari claimed it. It was hard to tell the difference between Qunari and Tevinter architecture. The only purely Qunari built city he knew of was Qunandar, and few Bas had ever seen it and returned.

The walls bore the scars and cracks of his siege catapults attempting to weaken the walls. There were a few sections of wall that had slightly crumbled, but they still remained formidable at their core. In the city smoke columns rose up here and there, as a result of his fire artillery.

He had offered the city the chance to surrender when his army had first arrived at its walls. His terms were very generous. They lay down their weapons, open the gates to his army and swear loyalty to the Empire. In return for this they would not be harmed, their houses and possessions were left untouched. He also made it clear that those in positions of power would be allowed to retain it under imperial rule. He made this last concession because he knew very well. That no matter how humanitarian he was, it was how he treated those in power, that determined if they would surrender or not.

But it didn't really come as much of a surprise when the city rejected his offer. In fact they had cast the heads of his envoys over the walls for their answer. That action had come as a surprise, and it had made Hawke shake with fury. In all the rules and conventions of war, the envoys and diplomats were to be heard and treated with all respect. For the Qunari to murder his messengers and defile their bodies was intolerable. They had even refused to return them for a proper burial or funeral rites. That proved to be the last straw.

Hawke had assembled a dozen Qunari prisoners in front of the walls, just out of bow range. He had then had them tied to poles and left them facing the walls. He had then ordered their throats to be cut and the bodies set alight. As the corpses had burned while the Qunari on the walls watched, he had yelled out to the defenders. He promised that any more killing of Tevinter prisoners or messengers would result in more of the same. Only next time the Qunari would be alive when he set them on fire.

At the time Hawke had meant it as a bluff. But now he was not sure if he would do it or not. The days when he had been a simple man of fortune were gone. In those days he could make his money were ever he could and he could maintain his moral compass. Now with the responsibilities of waging a war and commanding an army, he was sometimes forced into these things these days. He had killed many people, either by his own hand or by his orders. He had sent people into slavery, but always of their own violation. Right now he wasn't sure if he could say in all honesty if he was a good man or not.

Turning away from the wall of the city he began moving back up the side of the ditch that his soldiers had dug to defend against attacks on the camp. He took care to avoid the large wooden stakes that had been placed in the side of the ditch. Once he was able to walk up to the top of the ditch he crossed over to the other side on the wooden plank that was extended over the trench that acted as an extra defence.

Flanked by his two bodyguards, he moved through the camp as his soldiers went about their duties. As he passed his soldiers (in common fashion) fell to one knee and bowed their heads. He gave small nods of acknowledgements but at the moment he was occupied with matters of war.

He ducked under the flap to his command tent and sat down at his desk, with uncountable documents and letters. He dismissed his guards with a wave of his hand and as they resumed their place at the entrance, he picked up his battle plans.

He had had his shifters scout the city from above and sketch a very detailed map of the city of Alam. He had notes giving him vague idea of how many troops they had and wear they were or would be deployed. He had conflicting reports and incomprehensible messages from spies. He was ready to set the whole damned pile alight.

Closing his eyes and taking a relaxing sigh, he returned to his plans. His Tal-Vashoth mercenaries were still in Alam. The last raven he had received from them indicated that they had been accepted as loyal members of the Qun and were set to work manning the city walls. He was confident that they could open the gates to his men in the dead of night. But the Arishoks strengthening of their gate had stopped that plan. There was no way for those reinforcements on the gate to be removed in anything that remotely resembled silence.

Alam had supplies to last for months even in peacetime. With the war on, the Qunari had doubled the supplies of the city. And with his victory at Zenium he had relieved the Arishoks of thousands of months to feed. At this rate Alam would be starved out of food in just over a year. And by that time the Qunari could have sent relief forces to the city. This would sandwich his army between two hostile forces and spell doom for his campaign.

His captains had asked if Alam might run out of water, if not food. But a quick conversation with this Tal Vashoth had ended that suggestion. Alam was built on top of a well spring that connected to an underground river. The city had an unending supply of fresh water with no way to cut it off.

As it was, the situation demanded that Alam fall quickly, but the city was a fortress. And with a still large army of defenders protecting it, it was not going to be easy. The only option open to him seemed to be taking the city by storm, but he was reluctant to do that. If he attacked and was repulsed then he would have lost thousands of soldiers and possibly his entire war.

The army of the north was in danger of being smashed against the walls of Alam and broken in the battle. The Qunari for all their faults were not guilty of giving up the fight. Destroy one Qunari army, and another will take its place. But take a Qunari city and their supply lines are cut, their man power reserves damaged, and their food sources removed.

He had no doubt the Qunari would continue to fight without Alam. But it would be a bitter blow to them and their morale. And despite their image of not caring about such things, the Qunari did feel loss.

Hawke weighed up his options and their possible outcomes for a moment longer before he ordered his guards to summon a war council. A while later he was sitting at his seat at the head of the war council table. At his side was Merrill, and around the table his captain generals.

"As you are all aware, we need to secure Alam soon. We cannot starve them out and a Qunari relief army will be here shortly. I am open to other suggestions, but I can no longer see any option to us, then to attack the city directly. This will cause losses and it may not even be successful, but I see no other option. Opinions"

For a moment none of the commanders made a noise as they searched their minds for any other option available to them. Then they began conversing with each other to compare their theories. Then Captain Julian spoke up.

"My lord, if you and other mages of our army used their magic to create earthquakes under the walls of the city. Then couldn't we use this to bring the walls crashing down and open our way into the city?"

The captains looked hopeful at that and Merrill turned to her lover with a questioning, but hopeful look on her face.

Hawke shook his head sadly "Ordinarily that might work. But the foundations for the walls of the city are set fifteen feet deep into the earth. They are supported by the sloping fixture at the base. And this gives them added stabilisation against such natural disasters. No, an earthquake would do nothing. And this design of the wall also prevents tunnelling under the foundations.

The council looked dejected for a moment and once more the floor was open to discuss how to capture the city without massive loss of Imperial life. Another captain named Quintus spoke up next.

"My lord, couldn't the shifters enter the city in the forms of birds and infiltrate it? They could be thousands inside the city and the Qunari would never know until it was too late."

"No captain they couldn't" Hawke said "Because in their fanatical hatred of magic, the Qunari have taken it upon themselves to place magic supressing wards on many buildings in the city. The shifters would be unable to maintain their chosen forms and they would be defenceless against the garrison."

Quintus scowled in frustration as his idea failed.

Hawke let the silence continue for a moment until he was sure that was the end of the suggestions. He then stood up, and as he did all the council stood up with him.

"Gentlemen, lady" He said with a small smirk at Merrill "At dawn in two days we will launch an attack against the walls of Alam. We will use ladders and battering rams as well as magic. And if the Maker is with us. We will be sitting in the office of the Arishok while the fallen soldiers sit in the halls of heaven."

Placing his hand against his chest in the Tevinter salute he said "Glory to the Empire."

The council imitated his action "Death to its enemies!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Battlements of Alam**

The Arishok stood on the top of the battlements that adorned the gate house of the front entrance to the city of Alam. Around him, all along the walls of the city and down in the streets below the Qunari army was amassed in formation and with weapons in hands.

The battlements were filled with archers, made up of Kossith, human and elves. All of them had arrows aplenty in their quivers and their bows were strong, well-crafted and ready at their sides. Just behind them were the two lines of Karastan, who were to protect both the archers and the walls themselves. They held sharpened gleaming swords and spears that they were ready to either cast down over the ramparts or draw them to fight hand to hand on the ramparts.

On the streets below, the rest of the Qunari army was amassed in the streets and along the walkways. The defeat at the battle of Zenium had deprived the army of many fine karastan and others of warrior role in Seheron, Because of this he had incorporated many of Beresaad and Ben-Hassrath to reinforce the army defending the city.

In these groups there were many things he found wanting. For one thing a large group of the Beresaad had returned from the Bas lands recently and they were untested in battle yet. Another annoyance stood out from the Ben-Hassrath in the city. While they had used women in their role for their entire existence, he never understood why. As he had told the Bas-Saarbas and Kadarn Amell years ago, women do not fight.

Fighting was the domain of men and women who wished to be men made no sense. But the Ben-Hassrath trained women in their ranks to fight in their guarding duties of the Qun. He saw the advantages that a female mind might have in dealing with trouble makers in the populace. Still, seeing the women bearing weapons made him feel like he was in the bas kingdom of Ferelden again.

Regardless he surveyed the warriors packed into the city and ready to accept battle. That sight gave him heart and hardened his resolve to meet the Bas head on. He clutched his war hammer and slowly started pounding the end of it onto the stone of the wall ramparts.

Slowly put deliberately he kept hitting the end of his weapons into the floor of the walkway over and over. The sound it made steadily became a beating rhythm that echoed across the walls and around the city.

Slowly the rest of Qunari soldiers started their own pounding rhythm, adding them to the massive foreboding sounds that now echoed across the city. Some of them pounded their spears like the Arishok. Others pounded their swords on what little body armour they had.

And the archers tapped their bows on their section of the ramparts that they were presiding over. As the entire army took up the pattern of sound the noise was raised to a crescendo of racket that seemed to shake the foundations of the city.

Every Qunari soldier felt their spirits and resolve increase with the defiant battle chant that they had raised. They all felt a desire, no a need to defend their city to the very last man and in some cases woman.

Meanwhile the Qunari citizens that were quarantined to their houses for the duration of the battle heard the massive crashing sounds that they realised came from their soldiers and not from the enemy. They also took heart from the fact that their army was making that deafening sound. It made them confident that the Tevinter army could not overcome their defenders. That they would be safe from the enemy that wanted to kill them…right?

**Front of the Tevinter camp fortifications**

Hawke listened the din the Qunari army was raising with an unimpressed expression on his face as he adjusted the grip of his spear staff of Palathan that pointed at the imposing walls of Alam.

The Tevinter army of the North was laid out in battle formations. The seven legions of the army were organised in typical siege formation. Three legions each numbering roughly 10,000 men were in the front ranks facing the city walls and extending nearly all around the cities western facing wall.

Behind them two legions were placed in the second ranks and it was their job to reinforce the attacks that breached the defenders lines of battle. And another three legions were placed behind in the rear ranks. They were held in reserve for whatever need may arise or to replenish loses on the battle field.

Hawke had a horrible feeling that this battle might force him to call in all his reserve forces. The Qunari had just proven that they were ready to fight to the bitter bloody end. That combined with the defences that they possessed would guarantee his army would pay dearly for capturing this city.

The mages and arcane warriors were as always placed strategically.

The legions had a few dozen each and each commander had a few as their own personal soldiers to either carry out messages or head to certain battlefield positions. Once the army entered the city properly the magical repressing runes and wards would make them virtually defenceless.

And while Hawke had made sure that they were all armoured properly and had swords and other such weapons. He was not convinced that they were ready to face Qunari Karastan in open combat. He was not sure that the Arcane warrior technique would work under the effect of the wards. But he was not about to risk it.

He felt confident that he could handle it inside the city as he had experience in hand to hand combat. But Merrill had been ordered to remain outside the walls, until the wards could be removed. She had protested but he had said that if he had to tie her to their bed in his tent he would. She had reluctantly agreed that she was not up for battle without her magic.

The army had constructed five siege towers from the surrounding forests and they had created dozens of ladders that the army had spread out across their ranks. The hope was that if the siege towers were destroyed by the few remaining cannons on the cities walls. The ladders would still be able to get the army on to the walls to overwhelm the defenders.

Hawke had placed the captain generals in their cohorts in their respective legions. They would command their legions forces in accordance with his overall plan.

Stepping out from the ranks of his soldiers in his own legion he made his way to the walls with a small entourage of bodyguards, one of which held a white flag of truce on a pole over him.

As Hawke neared the wall the Arishok noticed him approaching. He raised his hand and slowly the war chant of the Qunari defenders died and was replaced by silence.

Hawke stood in front of the battlements with his armour gleaming in the emerging morning dawn. His armour shone impressively, but it was still his normal practical battle armour. Unlike most noble commanders he did not dress up in golden plumed armour that was impossible to actually fight in.

He raised his head to the top of the battlements and yelled out.

"Arishok, this is the final chance that you and I will have to avoid the shedding of much blood today. Will you discuss terms or not?"

A few seconds passed in which time the tension was so thick in the air that it was almost visible. The air seemed to distort as the soldiers on both sides waited with baited breath.

Then the Arishok roared out his response.

"The Qun does not negotiate with those that are unenlightened. Nor does it submit when it has certainty on its side. The only chance you will have to avoid bloodshed this day is if you withdraw your army of bas from Qunari territory."

With that he raised his hammer in his hand and roared out a furious war cry. This was soon taken up by the entire garrison and once again the noise echoed across the city and surrounding lands.

With a sigh that seemed to carry all the frustration in the world, Hawke turned back to his own army and re-joined the front ranks. For a minute or two he waited as messengers criss-crossed the army formations to deliver the ready message to all commanders and to co-ordinate the attack.

When he had all the confirmations in, he waited a few more minutes while bottles of strong wine were passed around the soldiers. This was to give them a little added liquid courage. And also to hopefully deaden the pain a little bit if they were wounded. Hawke himself took a swig, but he knew that it would only lessen the agony if he drank the whole jug.

He paused for a few second as he bowed his head and offered a quick prayer to the maker. All around him the rest of the army did the same, many even falling to one knee as they did so. He never arranged a universal prayer. But seeing him do it seems to be the sign for the rest of the army to do it too.

With that he gripped his spear staff tight and raised it to point at the sky. With a blast of magic he sent a shower of red sparks over the army. It was visible to all of them and it was universally understood.

"For Tevinter!" Hawke yelled out as he charged at the walls.

"TEVINTER!" The rest of the army screamed out as they charged at the falls following their magister. The ladders followed them while the siege towers began their slow progress to the walls.

Hawke made his way to the walls, keeping pace with the first cohorts of his legion. His soldiers were in assault formation. The front ranks held their swords at shoulder height with shields covering most of their bodies. The ranks behind held their shields above their heads to provide a protection against the Qunari arrows.

At that moment the ranks came in range of the walls and the Qunari archers got to work. Arrows flood the sky and cast a massive shadow that stretched across the battlefield. For a moment there was silence as except for the sound of parting air.

Then the rain of arrows fell and collided with the ranks of the Tevinter legionaries. The shield wall and rood saved the lives of hundreds of men and the bodies of a hundred more. But the gaps in the shields still allowed arrows through.

Men and women fell as the arrows tore through their armour and embedded themselves in their flesh. Their screams and cries of agony were heard even above the other melee of sounds on the battlefield. But they were forced to lie were they fell, as others in the ranks came forward to take their place. They would have to wait until the legion had passed before they could be picked up by the healing crews.

As they reached the walls Hawke heard a distinctive sound of a cannon firing.

Peeking out from under the shield wall he saw one of his five siege towers explode in s shower of wood and splinters. The tip portion of the tower had been hit by a cannonball and it had disintegrated. The soldiers who had been standing ready behind the ramp were blown to smithereens or thrown screaming to their deaths 80 feet below.

Snarling he aimed his staff at the rampart's that continued to spit arrows and fired a shower of green sparks at the wall which exploded on impact.

This was the signal the mages had been waiting for. Dashing out from the shield wall they began hurling fire balls and lightning at the ramparts. The magical attacks exploded on impact and blasted the battlements with elemental death.

The archers were forced to duck behind the ramparts to take cover from the magical barrage. But not all of them were able to avoid it. Shrieks erupted from the walls as many of the defenders were engulfed in flames or were blasted by lightning.

Some of them in their rabid pain cast themselves from the walls to end the pain with a quick death.

A massive explosion rocked the walls as a large chunk of the battlements was blasted apart. It seemed that the cannon that had blasted apart the siege tower had its power ignited by the fire blasts. This caused the cannon to explode and take a large portion of the defences with it.

This was what Hawke had hoped for. As long as the walls were being enveloped by flames, the Qunari could not fire the cannons without risking the power igniting. Because of this his siege towers would be more likely to reach the walls.

As he thought that he realised his line had reached the walls and immediately he gave the orders for the ladders to be raised up against the walls and secured on the top with the metal teeth that would make it harder for the Qunari to dislodge them.

As one the soldiers raised the ladders to the walls and slowly began to climb the walls. All the while the Qunari continued to fire arrows and now boulders were dropped on the soldiers that were struggling to gain access to the siege towers and the ladders.

It was strangely helpful of the Qunari to make the soldiers desperate to climb the towers or ladders and escape from the rain of missiles that were being hurled at them. Hawke seized the rungs of the ladder nearest to him and climbed up the first few rungs. Turning back he motioned to his soldiers.

"Come on, up the ladder!" He yelled and with that he turned and began the long climb up. All the while he held his borrowed shield over his head to protect himself from the arrows and rocks that continued to fall on the unfortunate souls that got in their path.

Hawke continued to climb until he reached the top of the ladder and immediately he had a half a dozen archer aiming at him as he reached the top of the ramparts.

Thinking on reflex he tossed the shield down on them. This forced them to shove the shield away and break their aim of their arrows. By the time they had regained their composure Hawke had his staff aimed at them. With a flourish he called down a firestorm and lightning storm down on the section of the wall that he was attacking.

The fireballs and lightning bolts struck the defenders en masse. Many were killed instantly; others were blasted off the walls to fall to their deaths on the street below. Of course there were still plenty of Qunari soldiers left to carry on the fight. But the magic had given Hawke an opening to jump down onto the walkway and take down a archer with a slice across his chest.

Other Tevinter soldiers followed onto the opening that Hawke had made. And before the Qunari could stop them, a foothold had been gained.

Soon the walls were a battle in their own right. Most of the Qunari archers had either cast away their bows for their swords or had been killed. The Karastan however lived on and made the Tevinter legionnaires pay for every step they took on the walls of their city. The Mages had been forced to end their magic blasts on the walls when the ladders had gone up.

But now the Qunari were too busy fighting off the invaders to man and fire the cannons. Because of this the siege towers were making their way to the walls almost unchallenged. But the Qunari were not making it easier.

Down in the streets the Qunari reserves were flooding up the stairs to the rampart walkways. The Arishok knew that they needed to overwhelm the Bas before they were able to get their siege towers against the walls. If they did then they could focus on the siege towers and maybe hold the walls. If they could hold the walls then the battle was theirs.

If they we forced into the city they could still win the day, but numbers would count for more and the Bas would hold the advantage. So the Arishok made sure that reinforcements were constantly flooding into the battlements to counter and overwhelm the Bas.

**Battlements on north side of the gatehouse**

He was also waiting for the siege tower that was nearest him. If that tower reached him he was sure it would make their job a lot harder. That was why he was fighting to get the cannon clear of enemies so they could fire it.

With a horrific swing of his war hammer he smashed the head of a bas into a mushy pulp that splattered across the floor and his face. The hammer carried on in a massive arch sent two more bas over the side of the wall and down to their deaths below. He was then forced to raise his hammer and block the downward strike of a sword wielding bas. While his sword was blocked the Arishok reached down and griped the bas by the back of his armour.

With a savage yell he threw the screaming bas over the ramparts head first to the ground, which silenced him very abruptly.

As he made his way over to the cannon he saw that it was loaded. It just need to be aimed correctly and fired. Side stepping another attack he punched the soldier to the ground and raised his hammer to deliver the final blow. It was then that he noticed that the soldier he had been about to kill was a woman.

The fact gave him brief pause. He had thought that for all its faults Tevinter at least understood that war was the domain of men not women. Ferelden had many qualities he had come to respect. But this custom of theirs was one that he had not come to appreciate. When as he had witnessed the skills of the one known as Leliana and the Bas Saarbas Morrigan. He had been impressed, but still found it unnatural

Still he had killed many women in his time in Ferelden and he would not lose his city because of the barbarous practices of his enemy. Shaking off his thoughts he placed his foot on the bas chest and brought his hammer slamming down.

The woman's head met the full assault of his hammer and her skull was utterly obliterated. All that was left of what a second ago had been a person's head was just a red swear on the granite blocks that made up the walkway. The Arishok took down another three bas around the cannon. Leaving two of them with either shattered limbs and bones, and the last just as a corpse

Finally he had access to the cannon and immediately, using his considerable strength he moved it into position. The cannon was now aimed at the fast approaching siege tower that was no looming over the walls. It was also a good thing that he had ordered the cannons to be polished. If they hadn't he might not have noticed the flash of light being reflected on the cannon from the raised sword behind him.

Snarling the Arishok dodged to the left just as a sword blade came slicing down on the cannon where he had been. The shower of sparks that the blade caused was also a gift from fate to the Arishok. With the Bas soldier temporarily blinded by the sparks he raised his hammer behind the bas and brought it slamming with all his might into his back.

The hammer shattered the spinal column and rip cage in a very clear crushing sound. The soldier collapsed against the cannon end and slowly slides to the floor trailing blood as he went.

With a grunt of annoyance the Arishok quickly lit the fuse and re-aimed the cannon. Within a few seconds the cannon roared and belched fire at the tower.

The tower was struck in the mid-section on the support sides of the tower. The shattered wood no longer supported the massive weight of the tower and the soldiers on it. Slowly like a twig snapping in half, the top half tower began to topple in itself. The Tevinter soldiers screamed as they were thrown from the tower and crashed to the earth. The soldiers below them saw the falling tower and discipline broke as they tried to avoid the crashing tower.

But it was not possible for them to avoid the falling siege tower and when it came crashing down it took the hundred or so legionaries that were crushed beneath it.

**Battlements on south side of the gatehouse**

Hawke watched the siege tower collapse and crush the lives out of dozens of his loyal soldiers. Gritting his teeth in anger, he vented his feelings by sending a huge fire blast down into the still crowed streets down below in the city. The resulting explosion in the densely packed area caused a few dozen Qunari to be immolated right there.

But the other three towers had made it the walls more or less undamaged. And as they reached the rim of the battlements the ramps came down and poured out dozens of Tevinter reinforcements.

Hawke smiled, with the added soldiers that the siege towers could unleash, combined with the ladders meant that his forces were slowly gaining the advantage of numbers. Slowly they were pushing the Qunari off the walls and gaining control of them. Once that was done they would be able to break down the gate from the inside and then they could storm the city.

He paused in his thoughts to run his spear through a Karastan that came at him. Channelling magic through the spear tip he fired lightning at a Qunari behind him and blasted him off the wall.

Ripping the blade out of the first Karastan he sliced his head off for good measure and kicked the blood gushing corpse off the side of walkway. He made it a point to get as many corpses off the wall as possible. The walkway was narrow and the bodies that were constantly falling made the walkway more treacherous. The blood that flowed out of the bodies was running all over the walkway, it was dripping in buckets off the sides of the wall.

And the blood maturely made the walkway even more treacherous. The risk of slipping or tripping on the remains was high. And that could very well lead to death in this atmosphere and that was something he defiantly wanted to avoid.

The battle continued for what felt like hours, but in truth it must have been under forty minutes. As Hawke had expected the siege towers and ladders had managed to help the Tevinter soldiers overwhelm the Qunari defenders on the walls.

Once the Arishok saw that the walls were lost he had ordered a fighting retreat to the gatehouse entrance ways. After that he had led his forces to regroup with the garrison army in the streets.

Hawke sliced down another Karastan and speared another one through the kidneys before eh dropped to the ground thrashing and wailing his pain to the world. Hawke was not one to let someone suffer even an enemy. He turned his spear over in his hands and planted it into the screaming Qunari's throat.

At this moment the battle was locked in a stalemate. The Tevinter army had begun its attack on the main Qunari army below as they fought their way down the walkways into the streets below the walls.

By the time Hawke managed to get to the main street, the entire area had been turned into one massive melee stretching as far as the eye could see. It didn't help that the mages remained on the walls to avoid the magic dampening wards that the Qunari had carved onto the cities buildings. They had been sending fire and lightning down into the city, but they had been accidently setting buildings alight in the process.

This was not what Hawke wanted. The aim of this attack was to capture and occupy the city intact. If the city was burned to the ground then they might be a loss to the Qunari, but the Imperials would have gained nothing for the loss of thousands of soldiers.

Hawke leapt on the nearest Qunari he saw and rammed his spear tip down into his shoulder. The blade pierced the Qunari's heart or some other vital organ, because as soon as the blade was removed the Qunari fell dead. He slashed, ducked and weaved his way through the massive city brawl that was spreading further and further into the city with each moment. He had given orders for the army to do something about the reinforced gate if they could.

If they could get the gate open then they could get the entire army into the city in minutes. But he didn't think they could get the gates open until the Qunari had been driven further into the city. Then they could get the gates open without Qunari interference. For the moment the gates would have to remain closed.

Ducking to avoid the blade of a Karastan, he shoved his clawed gauntlet into the Qunari's face. With his sharpened finger blades he tore into the Qunari's eye sockets and ripped out his eyes. The Qunari shrieked in maddened pain and offered no resistance to Hawke's spear as he shoved it into his trachea.

**1 hour later**

Hawke was running through the streets as his soldiers followed him across the rabidly deteriorating city. Since they had finally broken through the Qunari defences on the wall and the main army that was behind it, they had taken the fight into the city.

The Qunari had been forced to withdraw into the city and this had turned the battle into a massive series of street fights that had taken up all over the city. The Qunari were broken into small groups that had no way of communicating with the chain of command. This meant that their only plans were to kill all Tevinters they come across.

This a solid plan, but it did not help them hold the city, as groups were cut off and overwhelmed while separated from each other. This gave the Tevinter legions the chance to secure their holdings in the city.

It was common in warfare that once the walls had been taken, and then the defender was incapable of offering a good defence. In most cases the defenders surrendered once the walls were taken to save their city. It was the same in this case, while the Qunari were more willing to put up a fight then the average Antivan town, they couldn't hold the city sections.

Hawke came into a small square and immediately saw the bodies littering the streets as the blood spread across the cobbled ground. He sees both Imperial and Qunari dead but he saw more than a few dead that were clearly civilians. He had been well aware that the legionaries would not hold back on the populace. He had offered the Qunari multiple chances to surrender and each time they had spat in his face.

He had even offered to allow the civilian populace to leave the city and return when the battle had been decided. But again the subordinates or the Ariqun and the Arigena had refused him. After that he had told the army that he expected no special treatment on the populace. He wanted to make his merciful mature known. But he also wanted it known that if you rejected his generous offers then you would suffer.

Even so he did not wish to see the corpses of the unharmed civilians. He had given orders that no children were to be harmed, of everyone in this city they were the only innocent. But any civilians that got in the way or offered any resistance were to be dealt with.

He remembered this as a human women ran at him with what looked like kitchen knife in her hand. She moved with no skill or plan, just in mad bloodlust. He simply grabbed her hand with the knife and ran her through with this spear.

He did pause when he saw the legionaries getting ready to fire the temple they had come across in square. He ran over to them.

"Don't burn the temples, leave the temples!" With placing a few soldiers to guard the building, he and the rest carried on through the city.

He had no regard for the Qun personally. But he knew that if they burned the learning centres of the Qun, then the population of the city would be even harder to pacify then they would be now.

The Qunari citizens ran and screamed in every direction. There was no order no sense to their actions, there was only raw red panic. There only goal was to escape the avenging Tevinter forces that were everywhere in their city.

Hawke continued through the streets, killing any Qunari that dared to raise a hand against him, either soldiers or civilians. As he went he saw many civilians being dragged out of their houses in ropes or in the grasp of the vengeful Tevinter invaders. The men fought all they could to protect their families from the legionaries, but they were overwhelmed and beaten into a submission.

The women and children were forcibly dragged out into the street while the soldiers ransacked their home. They watched and wailed while their lives were upheaved by the actions of the Imperials.

Hawke had given clear orders against rape or indiscriminate killing of people, but he had no power to control that now. Not even the best commander could control his men's actions during the sack of a city. He hoped that the inclusion of women in the army might have given them other outlets, or some self-control. Once again they were reclaiming Seheron not destroying it. If every citizen hated the Empire or was left homeless and poor, then the Empire had gained nothing but difficulties.

Hawke rounded the corner, cutting down an ambushing Qunari jumping down from the rooftop as he did so. As he looked up from the bloodied corpse he saw the main palace of the city directly ahead of him down the high-street.

Turning back to his soldiers he raised his weapon and with a shout of triumph led his local forces to attack the palace. If they could claim it they held the city and maybe could capture the Arishok.

**Alam administrative palace**

The Arishok paced up and down the throne room with blood dripping from his armour as he moved muttering curses to himself.

Slowly but surely they had been pushed back from defensive line to defensive line. The walls had been their best chance to break the Tevinter army on the defences of Alam. But now they had been broken by sheer force of numbers and siege tactics.

The screams and yells of battle and bloodshed still reached his ears as he listened to the sounds of the city he had been told to protect fell to the blades of the heathen bas. He imaged Magister Hawke leading his barbarians through the ordered enlightened streets of the Qun and defiling them.

While he respected Hawke as both a worthy foe and a Basalit-an, he wished he could have his head in his hands just so he could crush it!

He was currently surrounded by his remaining Karastan and by the civilian officials of the Arigena and Ariqun that oversaw the day to day management of the city and surrounding land. He was trying to think of someway to act in the interests of the Qun at this point.

The city had fallen and nothing would change that. But if he could allow some of his soldiers to escape they could live to fight another day.

As he pondered this the sounds of battle suddenly increased in intensity. He realised with a feeling of resignation that the sounds were coming from the door way that led out of the throne room. Before he could even turn round to face the door, it was rammed down and the gruelling screams of an on duty Karastan were cut short by the blade of a Tevinter legionary.

Turning he saw the blood soaked, sweating, smoke stained face of Magister Hawke. It was in that moment he saw the face of the Kadarn Marion Amell in the face of Hawke. It was then that he saw the resemblance that carried between the bloods of family.

"So Arishok, your city has fallen and your army is beaten, your fate and that of your people lies in my hands. But even at this point I am willing to show mercy to you and your people. If you lay down your arms and surrender I will spare your lives and that of your people."

The Arishok didn't even dignify that with a response. Turning with the speed and grace that did not seem possible for a man of his bulk. The Arishok used his hammer to send one of the Tevinter soldiers flying off his feet and smashing into the stone wall, leaving a crack in the solid marble. The soldier fell to the floor and did not move again.

At this the calm and quiet in the throne room was broken. The Arishok and Karastan flung themselves to battle. Intending to die and to take as many of the enemy with the as they could.

Hawke and the rest of the Tevinter were ready and soon the room descended into a melee bloodbath. Hawke cut down a Karastan soldier with a swipe to the back of his knee. The severed leg fell to the floor followed soon by the Qunari. The Qunari stared in shock so much that he didn't even raise a hand to defend himself from the finishing blow.

Sensing rather than seeing the danger, Hawke flung himself forward, just avoiding the hammer smashing down where he had been a second ago. Turning he slashed at the Arishok and barely missed his head as the Kossith flung it backward. However his blade caught the Arishok's platted beard and sliced it in half.

The Arishok snarled and raised his hammer to attack again, but as his hammer made contact with Hawkes spear point, a legionary stabbed him through the calf muscle. The Arishok snarled in pain and frustration. Turning he shoved the spear point on the end of his hammer into the face of the Tevinter and out the other side. He shook the man off his weapon and turned to reengage Hawke.

But the Arishok was surrounded by this point, his men killed and the Imperials closing in around him, Hawke closest of all. He managed to take down two more, Tevinter before an enemy smashed his shield over the back of his head. With no horn protection, the blow sent the Arishok crashing to the floor in unconsciousness.

Hawke took a moment to catch his breath, before he was forced to batter way the blade of a soldier that had been trying to put it into the Arishok's head.

"No, he is an invaluable hostage, put him in chains and take him away."

Turning he selected men to act as messengers while others secured the Arishok, the officials and the rest of the palace.

"Let it be known that no Qunari that yet draws breath will be harmed set those soldiers that survive to chain and the civilians under guard. All fires are to be put out and no more damage is to be done."

"The city is TAKEN!"


End file.
